The Kroger Co. $KR Shares Purchased by Brookstone Capital Management

Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 38.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,146 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,475 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 61.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 33,367,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,249,307,000 after acquiring an additional 12,652,261 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,948,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,153,622,000 after acquiring an additional 386,503 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Kroger by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,327,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $426,515,000 after purchasing an additional 865,559 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in Kroger by 66.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,255,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,245,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Kroger by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,204,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,728,000 after purchasing an additional 524,768 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on KR. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Evercore set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Kroger and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Erste Group Bank began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.56.

Kroger Stock Down 0.0%

KR opened at $72.35 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $58.60 and a 12 month high of $76.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $69.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.55.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $34.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Kroger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.100-5.300 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

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