Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 23.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,518 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,498 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,299,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $967,863,000 after purchasing an additional 186,302 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 2,945,848 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Kroger by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,067,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,999,000 after buying an additional 31,477 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 2,059,574 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the first quarter valued at approximately $178,385,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on KR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price target (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $272,834.10. Following the transaction, the director owned 85,850 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE KR opened at $67.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The firm has a market cap of $44.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $68.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.02. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $54.88 and a 52 week high of $74.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.