Mackenzie Financial Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

Mackenzie Financial Corp reduced its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 18.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 772,065 shares of the company’s stock after selling 169,953 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in Kroger were worth $55,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kroger in the second quarter worth about $518,267,000. Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 685.5% in the 2nd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 25,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,809,000 after purchasing an additional 22,011 shares during the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 40.1% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 44,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,227,000 after purchasing an additional 12,885 shares during the period. Finally, Korea Investment CORP increased its position in shares of Kroger by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 711,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,067,000 after purchasing an additional 93,224 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KR. Wall Street Zen downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 26th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Argus set a $85.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Roth Capital raised shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Kroger from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. 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, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.39.

Kroger Price Performance

Kroger stock opened at $67.47 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 stock has a market cap of $44.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $66.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.30. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $57.69 and a 1 year high of $74.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio 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.