The Kroger Co. $KR Shares Acquired by TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 160,214 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 974 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $11,423,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,299,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $967,863,000 after buying an additional 186,302 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,945,848 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 31,477 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised 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 worth $276,485,000 after acquiring an additional 2,059,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at about $178,385,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

Kroger stock opened at $67.44 on Thursday. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $57.08 and a 12-month high of $74.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $44.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $66.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.55.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on KR shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.