Mengis Capital Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

Mengis Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 13.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 41,188 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,250 shares during the period. Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 99.6% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 14,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $983,000 after buying an additional 7,199 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 37.3% during the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 10.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 25,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,706,000 after buying an additional 2,347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 122.0% during the first quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 10,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $682,000 after buying an additional 5,536 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 3,810 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 85,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,147,718.50. This represents a 4.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday. Argus set a $85.00 price objective on Kroger in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Barclays assumed coverage on Kroger in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.63.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $67.54 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $54.88 and a 12-month high of $74.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $33.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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, equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS 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 issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis 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.