Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC increased its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 29.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,500 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,499 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Kroger by 5,635.8% during the second quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 588,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,204,000 after acquiring an additional 578,118 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Kroger by 4.9% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 102,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,337,000 after buying an additional 10,230 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.7% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,973,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the period. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Kroger in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $644,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Roth Mkm upgraded shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.50.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $65.43 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $66.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.72. The firm has a market cap of $43.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $57.08 and a 52 week high of $74.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.08 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The firm’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 35.53%.

About Kroger

The Kroger Co operates as a food and drug retailer in the United States. The company operates combination food and drug stores, multi-department stores, marketplace stores, and price impact warehouses. Its combination food and drug stores offer natural food and organic sections, pharmacies, general merchandise, pet centers, fresh seafood, and organic produce; and multi-department stores provide apparel, home fashion and furnishings, outdoor living, electronics, automotive products, and toys.