The Kroger Co. $KR Shares Bought by Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 6.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,889 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,072,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Kroger by 85.3% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,397,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,065,000 after buying an additional 2,945,848 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger during the first quarter valued at about $178,385,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its stake in Kroger by 101.7% during the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 4,084,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,485,000 after buying an additional 2,059,574 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Kroger by 80.7% during the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,185,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,768,000 after buying an additional 976,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Kroger during the first quarter valued at about $62,730,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 26,814 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.50, for a total value of $1,890,387.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 99,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,989,581.50. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:KR opened at $66.30 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $68.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.00. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $54.88 and a 52 week high of $74.90. The company has a market capitalization of $43.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on KR shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 target price on Kroger and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.63.

Kroger Company 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.