Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in The Kroger Co. $KR

Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 154.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,016 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,834 shares during the quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $7,416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in Kroger by 102.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 168,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,079,000 after purchasing an additional 85,223 shares during the period. Monument Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,901,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 2,313.4% during the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 138,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,964,000 after buying an additional 133,159 shares during the period. Advocate Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 16.6% during the 2nd quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 121,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,707,000 after buying an additional 17,284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorShares Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at $480,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.5%

KR opened at $62.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.83. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $58.12 and a 1-year high of $74.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. Kroger had a return on equity of 38.06% and a net margin of 0.54%.The business had revenue of $33.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.750-4.800 EPS. Analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on KR shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (down from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 26th. Argus set a $85.00 price objective on Kroger in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 target price (down previously from $78.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.13.

Kroger Profile

The Kroger Co (NYSE: KR) is one of the largest supermarket operators in the United States, offering a wide range of retail grocery and related services. Founded in Cincinnati in 1883 by Bernard Kroger, the company operates a portfolio of supermarket and multi-department store banners and provides customers with fresh foods, packaged groceries, deli and bakery items, meat and seafood, produce, and prepared foods. Kroger’s stores commonly include pharmacy services and fuel centers, positioning the company as a broad-based neighborhood retail destination for everyday needs.

In addition to traditional in-store retailing, Kroger manufactures and distributes a variety of private-label brands and operates its own food production and supply-chain facilities.