Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp Buys New Stake in The Kroger Co. $KR

Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp purchased a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 48,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,467,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KR. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 6,840.0% in the second quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in Kroger in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in Kroger in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 10,425.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 421 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 87.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 445 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KR. Roth Mkm raised shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Evercore ISI set a $77.00 target price on Kroger and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Argus set a $85.00 price target on Kroger in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. 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.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.39.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR opened at $63.41 on Tuesday. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $57.69 and a twelve month high of $74.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.02 billion, a PE ratio of 58.72, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $66.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.17.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. Kroger had a net margin of 0.54% and a return on equity of 38.06%. The company had revenue of $33.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Kroger’s quarterly revenue 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, sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 129.63%.

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.