Hilltop National Bank Buys Shares of 17,183 The Kroger Co. $KR

Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 17,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,233,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its stake 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 period. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Kroger in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Capital Analysts LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Kroger by 46.7% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $66.43 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $68.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.98. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $54.88 and a 52 week 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 $44.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on KR shares. Wall Street Zen cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Roth Capital raised Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Roth Mkm raised Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.63.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 3,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total value of $272,834.10. Following the sale, the director owned 85,850 shares in the company, valued at $6,147,718.50. This represents a 4.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.