Harbour Investments Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,478 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 988 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KR. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the first quarter valued at $25,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its position in Kroger by 6,840.0% in the second quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Kroger in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Capital Analysts LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Kroger in the first quarter valued at $38,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kroger Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $69.13 on Monday. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $55.60 and a 52-week high of $74.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.11. The firm has a market cap of $45.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.57.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The business had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th 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 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 35.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KR. Barclays began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, July 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted 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. Argus set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Roth Mkm upgraded shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.50.

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.