Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 222,094 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp trimmed its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,188,524 shares of the company’s stock after selling 222,094 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned about 0.18% of Kroger worth $85,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position 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 during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 1st quarter worth $178,385,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 2,059,574 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Kroger during the second quarter valued at about $120,965,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 80.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 976,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE KR opened at $65.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $66.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.74. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $57.08 and a one year high of $74.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $43.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.55.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on KR. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed 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. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective 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 report on Sunday, October 26th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.