The Kroger Co. $KR Shares Purchased by Clarius Group LLC

Clarius Group LLC increased its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,328 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $597,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Kroger by 1.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,299,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $967,863,000 after buying an additional 186,302 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Kroger by 85.3% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,397,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $433,065,000 after buying an additional 2,945,848 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Kroger by 0.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,067,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $342,999,000 after buying an additional 31,477 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its position in Kroger by 101.7% during the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 4,084,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,485,000 after buying an additional 2,059,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the first quarter worth $178,385,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 price target on Kroger and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price target on Kroger and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 26,814 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.50, for a total transaction of $1,890,387.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 99,143 shares in the company, valued at $6,989,581.50. The trade was a 21.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $66.30 on Monday. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $54.88 and a twelve month high of $74.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.57. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $68.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.03.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.53%.

Kroger 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.