National Pension Service Acquires 91,946 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

National Pension Service raised its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,439,658 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 91,946 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.22% of Kroger worth $97,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KR. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of Kroger by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 56,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,807,000 after purchasing an additional 16,270 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter valued at $201,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Kroger by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 159,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,427,000 after purchasing an additional 20,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Kroger by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,154,000 after purchasing an additional 2,099 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 target price (down previously from $74.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (down from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 1st. Barclays set a $68.00 price target on Kroger and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (down from $74.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.80.

Kroger Price Performance

KR opened at $62.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $39.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.16, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.61. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $58.60 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. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.43.

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

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.