Blair William & Co. IL Cuts Stake in The Kroger Co. $KR

Blair William & Co. IL cut its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 144,143 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,116 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Kroger were worth $10,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its position in Kroger by 6,840.0% in the second quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Kroger in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Capital Analysts LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 46.7% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 target price on Kroger and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, September 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.63.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 3,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total value of $272,834.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 85,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,147,718.50. This represents a 4.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE KR opened at $67.88 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $54.88 and a 1-year high of $74.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The company has a market capitalization of $44.98 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.07.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly 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. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The business had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 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.