Truist Financial Corp Increases Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

Truist Financial Corp grew its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 7.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 208,362 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,737 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Kroger were worth $14,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 85.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter worth $178,385,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew 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 buying an additional 2,059,574 shares during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter valued at about $62,730,000. Finally, Tredje AP fonden purchased a new position in Kroger during the first quarter worth approximately $54,105,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 3,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total value of $272,834.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 85,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,147,718.50. This represents a 4.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on KR shares. Roth Mkm raised shares of 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 report on Wednesday, September 17th. Roth Capital raised Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, July 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.63.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR opened at $66.30 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $68.75 and a 200-day moving average of $69.00. The company has a market cap of $43.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.57. 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 Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $54.88 and a 1 year high of $74.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. Kroger’s quarterly revenue 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, equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.