Private Trust Co. NA Cuts Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

Private Trust Co. NA decreased its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,993 shares of the company’s stock after selling 211 shares during the quarter. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Kroger were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Monument Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the second quarter worth about $2,901,000. Advocate Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 16.6% during the second quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 121,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,707,000 after purchasing an additional 17,284 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 12,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $850,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 3.7% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 8.1% during the second quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 51,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,716,000 after purchasing an additional 3,869 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 target price on Kroger and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Roth Capital raised Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.50.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $69.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $45.84 billion, a PE ratio of 17.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.57. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.60 and a fifty-two week high of $74.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $67.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.12.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $33.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 32.62% and a net margin of 1.86%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 35.53%.

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.