Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Has $628,000 Stake in The Kroger Co. $KR

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 180.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,762 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,637 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Kroger by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,299,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $967,863,000 after purchasing an additional 186,302 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 85.3% during the 1st 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. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 0.6% during the 1st 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. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 101.7% during the 1st 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 bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter worth approximately $178,385,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 26,814 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.50, for a total value of $1,890,387.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 99,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,989,581.50. The trade was a 21.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on KR shares. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Roth Mkm raised shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, July 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.63.

Kroger Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:KR opened at $66.43 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $54.88 and a 12 month high of $74.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $68.86 and its 200 day moving average is $68.98.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The business had revenue of $33.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. 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. Sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

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