The Kroger Co. $KR Shares Sold by Lincluden Management Ltd.

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

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,299,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $967,863,000 after acquiring an additional 186,302 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,945,848 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,067,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,999,000 after acquiring an additional 31,477 shares during the last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 2,059,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the first quarter worth about $178,385,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. Argus set a $85.00 target price on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Roth Capital upgraded 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. Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 target price on Kroger and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.63.

Kroger Stock Performance

Kroger stock opened at $67.88 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $68.47 and its 200-day moving average is $69.07. The company has a market cap of $44.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $54.88 and a 12 month high of $74.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released 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. 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 quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.53%.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 3,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total transaction of $272,834.10. Following the sale, the director directly owned 85,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,147,718.50. This trade represents a 4.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.