abrdn plc lessened its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR – Free Report) by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 672,142 shares of the company’s stock after selling 137,484 shares during the period. abrdn plc owned 0.09% of Kroger worth $30,078,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of KR. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,016,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,598,757,000 after acquiring an additional 362,562 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Kroger by 31.9% in the second quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,983,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $657,225,000 after buying an additional 3,379,062 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,902,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $651,696,000 after buying an additional 262,777 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,881,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $558,379,000 after buying an additional 148,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Kroger by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,922,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,355,000 after acquiring an additional 535,244 shares in the last quarter. 78.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Kroger Price Performance
Kroger stock opened at $46.53 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.80. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $50.36. The company has a market capitalization of $33.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.45.
Kroger (NYSE:KR – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 30th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.04. Kroger had a return on equity of 30.22% and a net margin of 1.27%. The company had revenue of $33.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.
Kroger Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.14%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
KR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stephens lowered their target price on Kroger from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 1st. TheStreet raised Kroger from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Kroger from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Kroger from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 1st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.30.
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.