New York Life Investment Management LLC Sells 6,699 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

New York Life Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 6.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,797 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,699 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $6,585,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Kroger by 1.3% during the first 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake 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 worth $433,065,000 after acquiring an additional 2,945,848 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 101.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter worth $178,385,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Roth Capital upgraded shares of 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. Roth Mkm upgraded shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.50.

Kroger Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of KR stock opened at $66.05 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.57. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $55.60 and a one year high of $74.90. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $67.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.53%.

Kroger Company 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.