Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. reduced its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 77.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,238 shares of the company’s stock after selling 58,089 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew 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 last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the first quarter valued at about $178,385,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 101.7% in the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 4,084,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,485,000 after acquiring an additional 2,059,574 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings 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. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Kroger during the 1st quarter worth approximately $62,730,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $68.85 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $55.60 and a 12-month high of $74.90. The firm has a market cap of $45.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50-day moving average is $68.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.04. Kroger had a return on equity of 32.62% and a net margin of 1.86%.The company had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. The business’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. Research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price target on Kroger and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Roth Mkm upgraded shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Roth Capital raised Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.53.

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.