Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Sells 2,315,326 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

Key Points

• Caisse De Depot et Placement du Quebec has sold 2,315,326 shares of The Kroger Co., reducing its holdings by 69% to approximately 1,039,349 shares worth $70.35 million.
• Kroger has set its FY 2025 earnings guidance at $4.600-4.800 EPS and reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.49, which is above analyst expectations.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.35 per share, up from $0.32, marking a 2.0% yield for investors.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec cut its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 69.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,039,349 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,315,326 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned 0.16% of Kroger worth $70,354,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Kroger by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 12,545 shares of the company's stock worth $850,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in Kroger by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,429 shares of the company's stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 307,790 shares of the company's stock worth $20,834,000 after buying an additional 24,849 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in Kroger by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 8,967 shares of the company's stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 67.2% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company's stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on KR shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $82.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, June 20th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Roth Capital boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 price target on shares of Kroger and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $70.58.

Kroger Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Kroger stock traded down $0.57 during trading on Thursday, reaching $67.41. 6,584,244 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,902,458. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $50.69 and a 1-year high of $74.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $71.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.55 billion, a PE ratio of 18.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. Kroger had a net margin of 1.89% and a return on equity of 34.71%. The company had revenue of $45.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. Kroger's quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.600-4.800 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a boost from Kroger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, EVP Timothy A. Massa sold 8,415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $622,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 118,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,788,314. The trade was a 6.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 37,960 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.44, for a total transaction of $2,749,822.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 75,218 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,448,791.92. This trade represents a 33.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 198,948 shares of company stock worth $14,422,926 in the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.