WINTON GROUP Ltd Reduces Position in The Kroger Co. $KR

WINTON GROUP Ltd decreased its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 50.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,769 shares of the company’s stock after selling 51,932 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Kroger were worth $3,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KR. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its stake in Kroger by 6,840.0% in the 2nd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter worth $28,000. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 10,425.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the period. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 87.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on KR shares. Evercore ISI set a $77.00 target price on Kroger and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Argus set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Roth Mkm raised shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 1st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.39.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $63.41 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $66.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.72, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.58. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $57.69 and a one year high of $74.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. Kroger had a net margin of 0.54% and a return on equity of 38.06%. The company had revenue of $33.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.750-4.800 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 129.63%.

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.