Foster & Motley Inc. Trims Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

Foster & Motley Inc. trimmed its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 231,244 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,563 shares during the quarter. Kroger makes up approximately 1.0% of Foster & Motley Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $16,587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Alta Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 35.6% during the 2nd quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC now owns 17,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,269,000 after acquiring an additional 4,650 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Kroger by 0.6% during the second quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 676,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,552,000 after purchasing an additional 4,049 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in Kroger by 16.2% during the second quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 15.2% during the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 7,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter valued at approximately $175,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Kroger and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report 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 report on Wednesday, September 17th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Argus set a $85.00 price objective on Kroger in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.50.

Kroger Stock Up 0.4%

KR opened at $69.13 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $68.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The company has a market cap of $45.81 billion, a PE ratio of 17.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.57. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $55.60 and a 52 week high of $74.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.08 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 32.62% and a net margin of 1.86%.The company’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given 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 yield of 2.0%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.