Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Sells 31,130 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

Key Points

• Asset Management One Co. Ltd. reduced its stake in The Kroger Co. by 7.7%, selling 31,130 shares and leaving them with 375,393 shares valued at approximately $26.9 million.
• Numerous hedge funds adjusted their positions in Kroger, with Advocate Group LLC increasing its stake by 16.6%, while the overall institutional ownership of Kroger stands at 80.93%.
• Kroger announced a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, with an upcoming payment date on December 1st and a yield of 2.1%.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 375,393 shares of the company's stock after selling 31,130 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.06% of Kroger worth $26,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Monument Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,901,000. Advocate Group LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 16.6% in the second quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 121,392 shares of the company's stock worth $8,707,000 after purchasing an additional 17,284 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 1.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 12,545 shares of the company's stock valued at $850,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 3.7% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,429 shares of the company's stock valued at $435,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 8.1% in the second quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 51,805 shares of the company's stock worth $3,716,000 after buying an additional 3,869 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Finally, 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $74.50.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $67.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $44.46 billion, a PE ratio of 17.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.57. The company's 50 day moving average is $67.72 and its 200 day moving average is $69.13. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $55.60 and a twelve month 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.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The firm had revenue of $33.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.53%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.