Profund Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

Profund Advisors LLC lowered its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 27.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,963 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,023 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $571,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Midwest Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,885,000. FDx Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Kroger during the 2nd quarter valued at $211,000. Efficient Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the second quarter worth $403,000. CSM Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the second quarter worth $24,342,000. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 29.2% during the second quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 15,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,112,000 after buying an additional 3,499 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Roth Mkm upgraded shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $66.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Argus set a $85.00 target price on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.50.

Kroger Price Performance

KR opened at $65.43 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, 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 $66.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.72.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.04. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The company had revenue of $33.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 2.1%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.