Rossby Financial LCC Takes Position in The Kroger Co. $KR

Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Monument Capital Management bought a new position in Kroger in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,901,000. Advocate Group LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 16.6% in the 2nd quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 121,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,707,000 after purchasing an additional 17,284 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in Kroger by 2,313.4% in the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 138,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,964,000 after purchasing an additional 133,159 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 51,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,716,000 after purchasing an additional 3,869 shares during the period. Finally, Liberty One Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 463,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,255,000 after purchasing an additional 6,528 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on Kroger in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Argus set a $85.00 price objective on Kroger in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.50.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $66.05 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $67.51 and its 200 day moving average is $69.17. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.60 and a fifty-two week high of $74.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.77 billion, a PE ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 1.97 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.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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

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.