AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR – Get Rating) by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,852,579 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 265,815 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Kroger were worth $87,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,040,589 shares of the company's stock worth $4,649,299,000 after buying an additional 2,062,188 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Kroger by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,777,178 shares of the company's stock worth $2,167,277,000 after acquiring an additional 590,838 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,022,070 shares of the company's stock valued at $976,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,355,600 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Kroger by 1.9% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 16,746,010 shares of the company's stock worth $792,589,000 after purchasing an additional 318,500 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in Kroger by 9.5% in the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,522,183 shares of the company's stock worth $545,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,044 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the topic of several research reports. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Kroger from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Kroger from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $51.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.39.

Insider Activity at Kroger

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $46.43. 71,172 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,561,150. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.24 billion, a PE ratio of 14.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.49. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $41.81 and a 12 month high of $62.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $46.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.66.

Kroger (NYSE:KR – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 1st. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.07. Kroger had a net margin of 1.61% and a return on equity of 31.92%. The business had revenue of $34.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 15th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 14th. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.50%.

Kroger Profile

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The Kroger Co operates as a 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.

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