Railway Pension Investments Ltd Has $73.51 Million Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Railway Pension Investments Ltd increased its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,286,710 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 26,600 shares during the quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd’s holdings in Kroger were worth $73,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KR. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the 1st quarter worth about $69,000. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 31.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 22,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,265,000 after buying an additional 5,330 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Kroger by 5.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 123,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,044,000 after acquiring an additional 6,640 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the first quarter valued at approximately $247,000. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Kroger in the first quarter worth approximately $17,900,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KR. Argus raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Wolfe Research raised Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. BNP Paribas reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.64.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR stock traded down $0.76 on Friday, reaching $54.33. 4,284,804 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,950,304. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $52.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.21 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.45.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The business had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $1.28 dividend. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.42%. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.59%.

About Kroger

The Kroger Co operates as a food and drug retailer in the United States. The company operates combination food and drug stores, multi-department stores, marketplace stores, and price impact warehouses. Its combination food and drug stores offer natural food and organic sections, pharmacies, general merchandise, pet centers, fresh seafood, and organic produce; and multi-department stores provide apparel, home fashion and furnishings, outdoor living, electronics, automotive products, and toys.