The Kroger Co. $KR Shares Purchased by Captrust Financial Advisors

Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,791,849 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 48,736 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Kroger were worth $188,199,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Kroger by 61.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 33,367,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,249,307,000 after acquiring an additional 12,652,261 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Kroger by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,948,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,153,622,000 after purchasing an additional 386,503 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kroger in the second quarter valued at approximately $518,267,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Kroger by 15.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,327,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $426,515,000 after buying an additional 865,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 66.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,255,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,245,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100,444 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore set a $77.00 price objective on Kroger and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 29th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.56.

Kroger Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $74.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.80. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $58.60 and a 1 year high of $76.58. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.09. The firm has a market cap of $46.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.44, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.62.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.08. Kroger had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 0.69%.The firm had revenue of $34.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Kroger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.100-5.300 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 91.50%.

About Kroger

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.