Cerity Partners LLC Has $32.56 Million Position in The Kroger Co. $KR

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 46.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 453,923 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 143,772 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Kroger worth $32,560,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Kroger by 1.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter valued at about $518,267,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Kroger by 7.9% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,126,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,028,000 after buying an additional 300,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its position in Kroger by 101.7% during 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. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (down from $78.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Roth Capital raised Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.39.

Kroger Stock Up 1.1%

KR stock opened at $63.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $66.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.17. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $57.69 and a 52-week high of $74.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. Kroger had a return on equity of 38.06% and a net margin of 0.54%.The business had revenue of $33.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.750-4.800 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 129.63%.

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.