The Kroger Co. $KR Shares Bought by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 149.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 234,162 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 140,362 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $16,796,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 498,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,741,000 after acquiring an additional 33,192 shares in the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 27,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,946,000 after acquiring an additional 3,420 shares in the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 28,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,072,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 299.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 74,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,371,000 after acquiring an additional 56,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Kroger by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 53,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 26,814 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.50, for a total value of $1,890,387.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 99,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,989,581.50. This trade represents a 21.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KR shares. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 target price on Kroger and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Argus set a $85.00 target price on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Roth Capital upgraded Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.63.

Kroger Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:KR opened at $66.30 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $68.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.98. The company has a market capitalization of $43.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $54.88 and a 52-week high of $74.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $34.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. The firm’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. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.