Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 347,379 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 0.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 76,300,896 shares of the company’s stock after selling 347,379 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Kroger worth $5,143,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tobam lifted its stake in Kroger by 34.9% in the third quarter. Tobam now owns 111,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,515,000 after buying an additional 28,859 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 1,010,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,122,000 after acquiring an additional 72,143 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 217,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,649,000 after acquiring an additional 6,040 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Kroger by 4.1% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 215,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,519,000 after acquiring an additional 8,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABN Amro Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in Kroger in the third quarter worth $606,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 target price (down from $74.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.07.

Kroger Stock Down 2.3%

Kroger stock opened at $69.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $63.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $58.60 and a twelve month high of $74.90. The company has a market capitalization of $44.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.62.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. Kroger had a return on equity of 38.06% and a net margin of 0.54%.The business had revenue of $33.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.750-4.800 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 129.63%.

Kroger Profile

The Kroger Co (NYSE: KR) is one of the largest supermarket operators in the United States, offering a wide range of retail grocery and related services. Founded in Cincinnati in 1883 by Bernard Kroger, the company operates a portfolio of supermarket and multi-department store banners and provides customers with fresh foods, packaged groceries, deli and bakery items, meat and seafood, produce, and prepared foods. Kroger’s stores commonly include pharmacy services and fuel centers, positioning the company as a broad-based neighborhood retail destination for everyday needs.

In addition to traditional in-store retailing, Kroger manufactures and distributes a variety of private-label brands and operates its own food production and supply-chain facilities.