Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 222,094 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp trimmed its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,188,524 shares of the company’s stock after selling 222,094 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Kroger were worth $85,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 8,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc raised its position in Kroger by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 7,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Cairn Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kroger by 0.3% in the second quarter. Cairn Investment Group Inc. now owns 58,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,225,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. lifted its stake in Kroger by 0.9% in the second quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 19,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 4.9% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus set a $85.00 price target on Kroger in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Roth Mkm upgraded Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Roth Capital raised shares of 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, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.50.

Kroger Price Performance

KR opened at $65.05 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.51, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $57.08 and a 12-month high of $74.90. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.74.

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 the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly 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, equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.53%.

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.