Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 172,924 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 49.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 521,652 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 172,924 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned 0.08% of Kroger worth $37,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 6,840.0% in the 2nd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 10,425.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 421 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on KR. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Roth Mkm raised shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.50.

Kroger Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $68.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $45.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $55.60 and a 1 year high of $74.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $67.68 and a 200 day moving average of $69.19.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.