Lincluden Management Ltd. Trims Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

Lincluden Management Ltd. lowered its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 64.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,610 shares of the company’s stock after selling 56,332 shares during the quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,196,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 37.3% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 10.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 25,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,706,000 after purchasing an additional 2,347 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 31.5% in the first quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 5,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 4.5% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 71,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,848,000 after purchasing an additional 3,087 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of KR stock opened at $67.88 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $68.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.07. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $54.88 and a 1-year high of $74.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.98 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.57. 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 earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 target price on Kroger and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Kroger in a report on Monday, July 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. 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, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 3,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total value of $272,834.10. Following the sale, the director owned 85,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.