The Kroger Co. $KR Shares Bought by Shell Asset Management Co.

Shell Asset Management Co. raised its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,086 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the first quarter valued at $25,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in Kroger by 6,840.0% in the second quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Kroger in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Capital Analysts LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 46.7% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 26,814 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.50, for a total value of $1,890,387.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 99,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,989,581.50. This trade represents a 21.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE KR opened at $68.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.57. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $54.88 and a 52-week high of $74.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $68.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on KR. Argus set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, September 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 21st. Finally, Roth Capital raised shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.63.

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.