Alta Capital Management LLC Buys 4,650 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

Alta Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 35.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,696 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,650 shares during the quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.6% during the second quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 676,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,552,000 after acquiring an additional 4,049 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 16.2% during the second quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 15.2% during the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 7,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $536,000 after buying an additional 988 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the second quarter valued at $175,000. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 31.3% during the second quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 13,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $934,000 after buying an additional 3,106 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $69.05 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.52, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.09. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $55.60 and a 52-week high of $74.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.08 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 32.62% and a net margin of 1.86%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. Analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 35.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price objective on Kroger and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 price objective on Kroger and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.53.

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.