Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Has $60.99 Million Stock Position in The Kroger Co. $KR

Key Points

• Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in The Kroger Co. by 2.6%, holding approximately $60.99 million worth of shares, making Kroger the 15th largest position in their portfolio.
• Kroger recently reported earnings of $1.04 per share, slightly above expectations, though its revenue of $33.94 billion fell short of analyst estimates.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, translating to a 2.1% dividend yield, with the payout ratio currently at 35.53%.

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 850,196 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,670 shares during the quarter. Kroger makes up about 2.7% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC owned about 0.13% of Kroger worth $60,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KR. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 85.3% in 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 stake in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at $178,385,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 101.7% in 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 stake in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at $120,965,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 80.7% in 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. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Down 2.2%

Kroger stock opened at $67.63 on Wednesday. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $55.60 and a 1-year high of $74.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.57. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $67.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The firm had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue 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, equities research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Roth Capital raised shares of Kroger from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Argus set a $85.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised shares of Kroger from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.

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