First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Has $694,000 Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. reduced its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,678 shares of the company’s stock after selling 730 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Monument Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter worth $2,901,000. Advocate Group LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 16.6% during the second quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 121,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,707,000 after acquiring an additional 17,284 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 3.7% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 51,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,716,000 after purchasing an additional 3,869 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Roth Mkm raised Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.50.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR opened at $67.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.03, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $55.60 and a twelve month high of $74.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $34.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. 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. Sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.1%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 35.53%.

Kroger Company 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.