Cooper Financial Group Increases Position in The Kroger Co. $KR

Cooper Financial Group raised its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 51.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,771 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,987 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in Kroger were worth $629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,299,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $967,863,000 after purchasing an additional 186,302 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 85.3% in the first 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,067,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,999,000 after purchasing an additional 31,477 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 2,059,574 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the first quarter valued at approximately $178,385,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE KR opened at $66.51 on Thursday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $68.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.98. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $54.88 and a 1 year high of $74.90. The company has a market cap of $44.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 26,814 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director directly owned 99,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available at this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Argus set a $85.00 price target on Kroger in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Roth Mkm raised shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.63.

Kroger 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.