Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Purchases 578,118 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5,635.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 588,376 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 578,118 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.09% of Kroger worth $42,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Kroger by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Kroger by 110.8% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 751,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,892,000 after purchasing an additional 395,098 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 20,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Kroger by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 34,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,477,000 after buying an additional 2,199 shares during the period. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 48.4% in the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 16,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,148,000 after acquiring an additional 5,530 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Trading Up 2.3%

NYSE:KR opened at $64.89 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $43.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.55. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $57.08 and a 52 week high of $74.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $66.79 and a 200 day moving average of $68.82.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. Roth Mkm raised shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Argus set a $85.00 target price on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Barclays started coverage on Kroger in a research report on Monday, July 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.50.

Kroger Profile

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.