Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Grows Position in The Kroger Co. $KR

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,938 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 962 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 463,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,255,000 after buying an additional 6,528 shares during the period. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,954,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,524,000 after buying an additional 25,729 shares during the period. Townsend & Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $13,831,000. Finally, Altus Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 8,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $599,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Roth Mkm raised Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays began coverage on Kroger in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.50.

Kroger Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE KR opened at $68.68 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $67.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.12. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $55.60 and a one year high of $74.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $45.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.53%.

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.