Lakeside Advisors INC. Decreases Position in The Kroger Co. $KR

Lakeside Advisors INC. trimmed its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 28,705 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,248 shares during the period. Kroger accounts for 1.3% of Lakeside Advisors INC.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Lakeside Advisors INC.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFC Advisors LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 1.7% during the first quarter. IFC Advisors LLC now owns 8,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $585,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its position in Kroger by 1.9% in the second quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 8,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $576,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Cairn Investment Group Inc. raised its position in Kroger by 0.3% in the second quarter. Cairn Investment Group Inc. now owns 58,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,225,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Independent Wealth Network Inc. raised its position in Kroger by 0.9% in the second quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 19,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Kroger by 1.6% in the first quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $757,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KR. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.63.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 26,814 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.50, for a total transaction of $1,890,387.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 99,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,989,581.50. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $66.87 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.01. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $54.88 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 stock has a market capitalization of $44.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.97, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.