Barings LLC Makes New Investment in The Kroger Co. $KR

Barings LLC purchased a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 22,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,498,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 102.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 168,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,079,000 after acquiring an additional 85,223 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in Kroger by 2,313.4% during the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 138,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,964,000 after buying an additional 133,159 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 43.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 72,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,870,000 after acquiring an additional 21,876 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $480,000. Finally, Liberty One Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Kroger by 85.0% during the 3rd quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 857,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,828,000 after acquiring an additional 394,060 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Barclays restated a “positive” rating on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 price target (down from $74.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.07.

Kroger Stock Down 2.0%

Kroger stock opened at $66.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.88. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $58.60 and a one year high of $74.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.62.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. Kroger had a net margin of 0.54% and a return on equity of 38.06%. The firm had revenue of $33.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.750-4.800 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 129.63%.

Kroger Profile

The Kroger Co (NYSE: KR) is one of the largest supermarket operators in the United States, offering a wide range of retail grocery and related services. Founded in Cincinnati in 1883 by Bernard Kroger, the company operates a portfolio of supermarket and multi-department store banners and provides customers with fresh foods, packaged groceries, deli and bakery items, meat and seafood, produce, and prepared foods. Kroger’s stores commonly include pharmacy services and fuel centers, positioning the company as a broad-based neighborhood retail destination for everyday needs.

In addition to traditional in-store retailing, Kroger manufactures and distributes a variety of private-label brands and operates its own food production and supply-chain facilities.