First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Sells 730 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

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

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KR. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in Kroger by 6,840.0% during the second quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the first quarter worth $36,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Kroger in the first quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research note on Saturday. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, September 12th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.50.

Kroger Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of KR stock opened at $67.09 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $55.60 and a 52-week high of $74.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.95. 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.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.04. The firm 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 was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 35.53%.

About Kroger

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.