The Kroger Co. $KR Stake Reduced by Ninety One UK Ltd

Ninety One UK Ltd reduced its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 9.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,198,638 shares of the company’s stock after selling 119,516 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in Kroger were worth $85,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Kroger by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 12,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $850,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 3.7% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 8.1% in the second quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 51,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,716,000 after purchasing an additional 3,869 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Kroger by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 115,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,298,000 after buying an additional 5,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Kroger by 69.6% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 24,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,755,000 after buying an additional 10,039 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Argus set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Kroger and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.63.

Kroger Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:KR opened at $67.41 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $54.88 and a 1-year high of $74.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.99.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.04. Kroger had a return on equity of 32.62% and a net margin of 1.86%.The business had revenue of $33.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 35.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 26,814 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.50, for a total transaction of $1,890,387.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 99,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,989,581.50. The trade was a 21.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.