Joule Financial LLC Has $840,000 Position in The Kroger Co. $KR

Joule Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,704 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 354 shares during the quarter. Joule Financial LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Kroger by 85.3% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,397,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,065,000 after purchasing an additional 2,945,848 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the first quarter valued at approximately $178,385,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 101.7% in the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 4,084,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,485,000 after buying an additional 2,059,574 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 80.7% during the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,185,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,768,000 after acquiring an additional 976,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the first quarter worth $62,730,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Argus set a $85.00 price target on Kroger in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Roth Mkm upgraded Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 26,814 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 99,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,989,581.50. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR opened at $66.30 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $43.93 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.03. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $54.88 and a 1-year high of $74.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 EPS 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 company had revenue of $33.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 35.53%.

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.