Nwam LLC Trims Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

Nwam LLC trimmed its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 32.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,062 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,866 shares during the quarter. Nwam LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,299,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $967,863,000 after buying an additional 186,302 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Kroger by 85.3% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,397,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $433,065,000 after acquiring an additional 2,945,848 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Kroger by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,067,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $342,999,000 after purchasing an additional 31,477 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 101.7% during the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 4,084,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,485,000 after purchasing an additional 2,059,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the first quarter worth $178,385,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $65.43 on Thursday. 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 Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $57.08 and a fifty-two week high of $74.90. The firm has a market cap of $43.36 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $66.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.72.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.08 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 35.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on KR shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 26th. Barclays started coverage on Kroger in a report on Monday, July 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Argus set a $85.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.50.

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.