Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Acquires 337,000 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 224.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 487,200 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 337,000 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Kroger were worth $27,917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KR. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Kroger in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kroger by 218.8% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE KR opened at $60.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $43.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $42.97 and a one year high of $61.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $57.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.33.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at $784,715.40. This trade represents a 32.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. This represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on KR. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.55.

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.