The Kroger Co. $KR Holdings Reduced by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG decreased its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 29.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,903 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,471 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the first quarter worth $25,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 6,840.0% in the second quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Capital Analysts LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Kroger by 46.7% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 26,814 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.50, for a total transaction of $1,890,387.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 99,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,989,581.50. The trade was a 21.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR opened at $66.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $43.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.98. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $54.88 and a fifty-two week high of $74.90.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 price target on Kroger and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Barclays started coverage on Kroger in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Finally, Roth Mkm raised Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.63.

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.