Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Has $17.26 Million Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 240,657 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,325 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Kroger were worth $17,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Sara Bay Financial acquired a new stake in Kroger during the second quarter worth approximately $204,000. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 16,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC grew its holdings in Kroger by 1,336.4% in the 2nd quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 69,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,989,000 after buying an additional 64,710 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC increased its position in Kroger by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 4,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the second quarter worth $144,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 26,814 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.50, for a total value of $1,890,387.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 99,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,989,581.50. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price objective on Kroger and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.63.

Kroger Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE KR opened at $65.51 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $69.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.41 billion, a PE ratio of 16.63, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.59. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $54.88 and a fifty-two week high of $74.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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