Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.83 Million in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,828,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KR. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 370.1% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 430.8% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 637 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KR. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.17.

Kroger Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:KR opened at $55.57 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34. The firm has a market cap of $40.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50 day moving average is $53.05 and its 200-day moving average is $47.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The company had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 39.19%.

Kroger Profile

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.