CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. Purchases Shares of 225,441 The Kroger Co. $KR

CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 225,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,197,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 3,373 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 56,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,807,000 after buying an additional 16,270 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the second quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 15.5% in the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 44,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,219,000 after acquiring an additional 6,037 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 30.3% in the second quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 3,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KR. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Kroger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $70.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Evercore set a $77.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.56.

Kroger Stock Performance

Kroger stock opened at $73.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $67.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.19. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $58.60 and a 52-week high of $76.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.08. Kroger had a net margin of 0.69% and a return on equity of 41.08%. The company had revenue of $34.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Kroger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.100-5.300 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 91.50%.

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.