Alliancebernstein L.P. Raises Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 18.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 911,621 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 139,131 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.14% of Kroger worth $61,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Kroger by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,733 shares of the company's stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 3,373 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $204,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 54.4% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 202,175 shares of the company's stock worth $12,363,000 after acquiring an additional 71,244 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $413,000. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in Kroger by 74.9% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 33,491 shares of the company's stock worth $2,074,000 after buying an additional 14,344 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 3,810 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total value of $272,834.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 85,850 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,147,718.50. This represents a 4.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 37,960 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 75,218 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,448,791.92. The trade was a 33.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 198,948 shares of company stock valued at $14,422,926 over the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kroger Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:KR traded down $0.29 on Tuesday, reaching $67.71. 7,410,760 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,667,723. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $70.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.83. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $50.69 and a 12 month high of $74.90. The company has a market capitalization of $44.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.45, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. The firm'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. Equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This is a boost from Kroger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Kroger from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 target price (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.58.

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.