Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 723,771 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 723,771 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Kroger were worth $678,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 255.6% in the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 101.6% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on KR. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.09.

Kroger Trading Up 1.3 %

KR opened at $55.91 on Monday. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $53.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.69. The firm has a market cap of $40.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The company’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 43.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.