Federated Hermes Inc. Has $28.87 Million Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 35.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 472,114 shares of the company’s stock after selling 263,873 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $28,870,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KR. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 88,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,056,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at $361,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 210.5% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $930,000 after buying an additional 11,008 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 41,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,373,000 after buying an additional 7,196 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 17.9% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 50,119 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,872,000 after acquiring an additional 7,609 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:KR opened at $66.34 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.07. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $71.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Melius Research lowered shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,486,131.04. This trade represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total transaction of $86,723.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,090 shares in the company, valued at $806,523.90. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 258,785 shares of company stock valued at $17,476,866 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.