Procyon Advisors LLC Sells 4,409 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

Procyon Advisors LLC decreased its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 31.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,643 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,409 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Capital Analysts LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 46.7% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Kroger in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, EVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 37,960 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.44, for a total transaction of $2,749,822.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 75,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,448,791.92. The trade was a 33.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 3,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total transaction of $272,834.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 85,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,147,718.50. This trade represents a 4.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 198,948 shares of company stock valued at $14,422,926 over the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $65.95 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $70.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.94. The company has a market cap of $43.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.59. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $54.56 and a 12 month high of $74.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.08 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 32.62% and a net margin of 1.86%.Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 35.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on KR. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target 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. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.70.

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.