Bank of New York Mellon Corp Reduces Stake in The Kroger Co. $KR

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,267,189 shares of the company’s stock after selling 150,153 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Kroger were worth $306,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. IFC Advisors LLC increased its position in Kroger by 1.7% during the first quarter. IFC Advisors LLC now owns 8,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $585,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 8,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $576,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 7,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $553,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Cairn Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cairn Investment Group Inc. now owns 58,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,225,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Wealth Network Inc. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 19,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KR. Barclays started coverage on Kroger in a research report on Monday, July 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Roth Mkm upgraded Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Roth Capital raised Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.50.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $63.81 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.57. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $67.03 and a 200 day moving average of $69.01. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $56.25 and a 12 month high of $74.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for 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 business’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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Kroger’s 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.