Focus Partners Wealth Purchases 6,547 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 19.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,038 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,547 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Kroger by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 122,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,495,000 after buying an additional 6,518 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Kroger by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 64,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,947,000 after buying an additional 5,617 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Kroger by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 359,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,960,000 after buying an additional 4,911 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $2,444,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Melius Research raised Kroger from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price objective on Kroger and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 3,810 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total value of $272,834.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 85,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,147,718.50. This trade represents a 4.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mary Ellen Adcock sold 34,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.16, for a total transaction of $2,437,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 184,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,127,098.68. This trade represents a 15.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 198,948 shares of company stock worth $14,422,926 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of KR opened at $67.33 on Tuesday. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $54.56 and a one year high of $74.90. The company has a market cap of $44.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.60. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.95.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced 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 company had revenue of $33.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.08 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.53%.

Kroger Company 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.