The Kroger Co. $KR Stock Holdings Boosted by Sovereign Financial Group Inc.

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,369 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $313,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position 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 buying an additional 2,945,848 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at about $178,385,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its position in Kroger by 101.7% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 4,084,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,485,000 after buying an additional 2,059,574 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in Kroger by 80.7% in the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,185,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,768,000 after buying an additional 976,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new position in Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at about $62,730,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

KR stock opened at $67.88 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $54.88 and a one year high of $74.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.98 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $68.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.09.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.04. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The company had revenue of $33.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly 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, analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KR. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Roth Mkm upgraded 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. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 3,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total transaction of $272,834.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 85,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,147,718.50. This represents a 4.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.