Swedbank AB Sells 11,768 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

Swedbank AB lowered its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 406,634 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,768 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned 0.06% of Kroger worth $25,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Kroger by 45.5% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 855,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,690,000 after buying an additional 267,434 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lifted its position in Kroger by 401.3% during the third quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 19,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,293,000 after buying an additional 15,586 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp lifted its position in Kroger by 64.7% during the third quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 45,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,051,000 after buying an additional 17,777 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp lifted its position in Kroger by 126.2% during the third quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 35,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,404,000 after buying an additional 19,898 shares during the period. Finally, Longbow Finance SA purchased a new position in Kroger during the third quarter valued at $7,115,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Kroger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.87.

Kroger Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of KR stock opened at $67.32 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $69.40 and its 200-day moving average is $66.77. The stock has a market cap of $41.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.00, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.46. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $58.60 and a 52-week high of $76.58.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $34.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.10 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 0.69% and a return on equity of 41.08%. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. Kroger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.100-5.300 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 91.50%.

About Kroger

The Kroger Co (NYSE: KR) is one of the largest supermarket operators in the United States, offering a wide range of retail grocery and related services. Founded in Cincinnati in 1883 by Bernard Kroger, the company operates a portfolio of supermarket and multi-department store banners and provides customers with fresh foods, packaged groceries, deli and bakery items, meat and seafood, produce, and prepared foods. Kroger’s stores commonly include pharmacy services and fuel centers, positioning the company as a broad-based neighborhood retail destination for everyday needs.

In addition to traditional in-store retailing, Kroger manufactures and distributes a variety of private-label brands and operates its own food production and supply-chain facilities.