Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC Sells 14,286 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

Key Points

• Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC reduced its stake in The Kroger Co. by 19.7%, selling 14,286 shares during the second quarter, with the remaining shares valued at approximately $4.2 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Wellington Management Group LLP and Alyeska Investment Group L.P., have significantly increased their holdings, indicating a strong interest in Kroger amidst research upgrades from multiple analysts.
• Kroger has recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.35, scheduled for payment on December 1st, representing a 2.0% dividend yield based on its current payout ratio of 35.53%.

Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC decreased its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 19.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 58,374 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,286 shares during the quarter. Kroger accounts for 0.8% of Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Kroger were worth $4,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Kroger by 85.3% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,397,771 shares of the company's stock valued at $433,065,000 after purchasing an additional 2,945,848 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $178,385,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased 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 during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $120,965,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 80.7% during the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,185,530 shares of the company's stock valued at $156,768,000 after purchasing an additional 976,100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on KR shares. 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. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.50.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $69.13 on Monday. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $55.60 and a twelve month high of $74.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.11. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $34.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. On average, 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 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Kroger's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.53%.

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.

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