AMF Tjanstepension AB Grows Position in The Kroger Co. $KR

AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 99.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 777,210 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 386,908 shares during the quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB owned approximately 0.12% of Kroger worth $55,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of KR. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $962,000 after buying an additional 3,373 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 118.2% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 26,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,770,000 after acquiring an additional 14,168 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 63.2% in the 1st quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 7,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $525,000 after acquiring an additional 3,004 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $924,000 after acquiring an additional 949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co lifted its stake in Kroger by 34.2% during the first quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 2,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on KR shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Kroger and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Roth Mkm raised shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Argus set a $85.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Kroger and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Roth Capital raised Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 26,814 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.50, for a total transaction of $1,890,387.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 99,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,989,581.50. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $66.30 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $54.88 and a one year high of $74.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. On average, analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors 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 yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.53%.

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.