US Bancorp DE Reduces Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

Key Points

• US Bancorp DE has reduced its holdings in The Kroger Co. by 10.4%, now owning about 551,959 shares valued at approximately $39.6 million.
• Several institutional investors have made significant changes to their positions in Kroger, with Wellington Management increasing its stake by 85.3% during the first quarter.
• Kroger has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 to be paid on December 1st, representing an annualized yield of 2.1%.

US Bancorp DE decreased its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 10.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 551,959 shares of the company's stock after selling 64,197 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE owned 0.08% of Kroger worth $39,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Kroger by 85.3% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the first quarter valued at approximately $178,385,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its holdings in Kroger by 101.7% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Kroger by 80.7% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Kroger during the first quarter valued at approximately $62,730,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 3,810 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total value of $272,834.10. Following the sale, the director owned 85,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,147,718.50. The trade was a 4.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on KR. Evercore ISI lifted 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. Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 price target on shares of Kroger and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Kroger from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Kroger and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $73.63.

Kroger Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of KR opened at $67.54 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $68.54 and its 200 day moving average is $69.02. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $54.88 and a fifty-two week high of $74.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The company had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $34.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. Kroger'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. Sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Kroger's payout ratio is currently 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding KR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report).

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.