25,179 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR Purchased by McKinney Capital Management LLC

McKinney Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 25,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,476,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KR. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Kroger during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,016,956,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Kroger during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $284,501,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Kroger during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $195,234,000. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter worth $157,533,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter worth $119,723,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of several research reports. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Evercore set a $70.00 target price on Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Wall Street Zen raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 9th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $60.00 target price on Kroger and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.35.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, EVP Mary Adcock sold 72,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $4,425,090.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 175,233 shares in the company, valued at $10,636,643.10. The trade was a 29.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR traded up $1.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $70.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,550,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,784,427. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $54.15 and a fifty-two week high of $76.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $62.78 and its 200-day moving average is $63.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.59, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $41.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.36.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, September 11th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.04. Kroger had a net margin of 0.73% and a return on equity of 49.90%. The company had revenue of $34.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Kroger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.100-5.300 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 5.20 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.78%.

About Kroger

The Kroger Co. is a U.S. grocery retailer founded in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1883 by Bernard Kroger. It operates supermarkets and other grocery formats across the United States under banners including Kroger, Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Harris Teeter, King Soopers, and Smith’s. Alongside groceries and household essentials, Kroger stores offer services such as pharmacies and fuel centers. The company also sells products under its own private-label brands and produces many of those items through its food manufacturing operations.