Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Grows Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 343,283 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 74,300 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund owned 0.05% of Kroger worth $24,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KR. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 11.7% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 10,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 1,115 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 12,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $850,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 23,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,579,000 after buying an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in Kroger by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $68.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.10 billion, a PE ratio of 17.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $67.68 and a 200-day moving average of $69.19. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $55.60 and a 52-week high of $74.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.94 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Argus set a $85.00 price target on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Barclays assumed coverage on Kroger in a report on Monday, July 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.50.

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.