Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 157,273 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Federated Hermes Inc. decreased its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,058,379 shares of the company’s stock after selling 157,273 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.15% of Kroger worth $48,378,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the first quarter worth about $28,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 370.1% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 430.8% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the period. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of KR stock opened at $56.57 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $42.10 and a 12-month high of $58.34. The company has a market capitalization of $40.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $53.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The business had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 39.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KR. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.17.

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.