Strs Ohio Lowers Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

Strs Ohio trimmed its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 46.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 495,766 shares of the company’s stock after selling 430,959 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Kroger were worth $35,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KR. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,945,848 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $178,385,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 101.7% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $120,965,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 80.7% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Down 0.9%

KR opened at $65.45 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $67.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $43.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.57. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $55.69 and a one year high of $74.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. 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. Analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 35.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KR. Roth Mkm upgraded Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Ten equities research 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.50.

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.