Kroger (NYSE:KR) Updates FY 2025 Earnings Guidance

Kroger (NYSE:KR) issued an update on its FY 2025 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 4.750-4.800 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 4.780. The company issued revenue guidance of -.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 26th. Roth Mkm upgraded shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Argus set a $85.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.39.

Kroger Trading Down 5.3%

Shares of KR stock traded down $3.49 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $62.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,853,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,989,198. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $41.56 billion, a PE ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.29. Kroger has a 12-month low of $57.69 and a 12-month high of $74.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.27 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 32.62% and a net margin of 1.86%.The company’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.750-4.800 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Kroger will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.53%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KR. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 299.6% in the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 2,420,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,622,000 after purchasing an additional 1,814,721 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in Kroger by 95.6% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 2,434,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,638,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190,127 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its position in Kroger by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,991,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010,457 shares during the period. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 49.4% in the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 2,815,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,774,000 after purchasing an additional 930,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Kroger in the second quarter worth about $65,450,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.