The Kroger Co. $KR Shares Sold by Peoples Bank OH

Peoples Bank OH lowered its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,033 shares of the company’s stock after selling 180 shares during the period. Peoples Bank OH’s holdings in Kroger were worth $433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Kroger by 85.3% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,397,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,065,000 after purchasing an additional 2,945,848 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the first quarter valued at about $178,385,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its position in Kroger by 101.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,059,574 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in Kroger by 80.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 976,100 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Kroger in the first quarter valued at about $62,730,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Roth Mkm raised shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $66.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.63.

Kroger Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of KR opened at $66.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.98. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $54.88 and a 1-year high of $74.90. The stock has a market cap of $43.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.57.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued 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 business had revenue of $33.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS 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. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 3,810 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total value of $272,834.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 85,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,147,718.50. The trade was a 4.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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.