Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,299,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $967,863,000 after purchasing an additional 186,302 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 85.3% during the 1st 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $342,999,000 after acquiring an additional 31,477 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its holdings 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 worth $276,485,000 after acquiring an additional 2,059,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 1st quarter worth $178,385,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kroger Price Performance

Kroger stock opened at $69.18 on Tuesday. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $55.60 and a 52-week high of $74.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.56, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 35.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on KR. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Roth Mkm raised shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price target on shares of Kroger and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.50.

About Kroger

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.