KBC Group NV Cuts Stock Position in The Kroger Co. $KR

KBC Group NV lowered its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 387,279 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,907 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.06% of Kroger worth $27,779,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 2,945,848 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter worth approximately $178,385,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 101.7% during the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 4,084,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,485,000 after purchasing an additional 2,059,574 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the second quarter worth approximately $120,965,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in Kroger by 80.7% during the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,185,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,768,000 after purchasing an additional 976,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on KR shares. Roth Capital raised Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Argus set a $85.00 price target on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.50.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $65.99 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $66.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.55. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $57.08 and a 1-year high of $74.90.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. 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.