The Kroger Co. $KR Shares Sold by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 63.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 389,911 shares of the company’s stock after selling 676,406 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Kroger worth $27,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millington Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Millington Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,241,000 after buying an additional 3,402 shares during the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 8.8% in the second quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 20,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 7.6% in the second quarter. Wealthquest Corp now owns 7,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $556,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in Kroger by 11.6% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,374,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,629,000 after purchasing an additional 142,908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kroger in the second quarter valued at about $518,267,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on KR shares. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 26th. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.39.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $67.47 on Monday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $66.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.32. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $57.69 and a 52-week high of $74.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.55.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.94 billion during 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%.The business’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 35.53%.

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.