Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 157,273 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,058,379 shares of the company’s stock after selling 157,273 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $48,378,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 4,810.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 567,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,955,000 after acquiring an additional 556,266 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 4.3% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 284,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,715,000 after acquiring an additional 11,707 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 49.3% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 115,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,165,000 after purchasing an additional 38,119 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 239.9% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 168,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,519,000 after purchasing an additional 118,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Kroger by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 156,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,143,000 after purchasing an additional 17,380 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim raised their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.17.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $56.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $53.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.83. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $58.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 39.19%.

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.