Venturi Wealth Management LLC Sells 730 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

Venturi Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,107 shares of the company’s stock after selling 730 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 85.3% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,397,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,065,000 after acquiring an additional 2,945,848 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger during the first quarter worth $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 worth $276,485,000 after buying an additional 2,059,574 shares during the period. 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 worth $156,768,000 after buying an additional 976,100 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Kroger during the first quarter worth $62,730,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on KR shares. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 target price on Kroger and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 target price on Kroger and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.63.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE KR opened at $67.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $68.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.05. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $54.88 and a 1 year high of $74.90. The company has a market cap of $44.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 35.53%.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 3,810 shares of the company’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 directly owned 85,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,147,718.50. This represents a 4.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is 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.