Coordinated Financial Services Inc. Takes $334,000 Position in The Kroger Co. $KR

Coordinated Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 4,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $334,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised 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 worth $967,863,000 after buying an additional 186,302 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in 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 during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its stake in 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 during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the 1st quarter worth approximately $178,385,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price target (up from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 price objective on Kroger and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price objective on Kroger and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Ten 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.63.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR opened at $67.54 on Friday. 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 has a market capitalization of $44.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $68.54 and a 200 day moving average of $69.02. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $54.88 and a 12 month high of $74.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.08 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 32.62% and a net margin of 1.86%.Kroger’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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