The Kroger Co. $KR Shares Sold by Capital Investment Advisors LLC

Capital Investment Advisors LLC cut its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 12.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,467 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,068 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 1.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 12,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $850,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its position in shares of Kroger by 3.7% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 8.1% during the second quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 51,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,716,000 after purchasing an additional 3,869 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Kroger by 4.8% during the second quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 115,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,298,000 after purchasing an additional 5,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 69.6% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 24,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,755,000 after purchasing an additional 10,039 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KR. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Barclays began coverage on Kroger in a research report on Monday, July 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Argus set a $85.00 price target on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.63.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR opened at $66.43 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The business’s 50 day moving average is $68.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.98. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $54.88 and a 12-month high of $74.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 35.53%.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 3,810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total transaction of $272,834.10. Following the sale, the director owned 85,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,147,718.50. The trade was a 4.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kroger 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.