NorthRock Partners LLC Sells 174 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

NorthRock Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,894 shares of the company’s stock after selling 174 shares during the quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its position in Kroger by 6,840.0% during the second quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Capital Analysts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter valued at $38,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 21st. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Kroger and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.53.

Kroger Trading Down 0.1%

KR stock opened at $69.05 on Thursday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.09. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $55.60 and a 52 week high of $74.90. The company has a market capitalization of $45.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.57.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $34.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. Kroger’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, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

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

Kroger Company Profile

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.