Ergawealth Advisors Inc. Buys New Shares in The Kroger Co. $KR

Ergawealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 3,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 12,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $850,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of Kroger by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 51,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,716,000 after buying an additional 3,869 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its stake in Kroger by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 115,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,298,000 after buying an additional 5,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 69.6% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 24,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,755,000 after buying an additional 10,039 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on KR shares. Roth Capital raised Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, July 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Roth Mkm upgraded shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.63.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $66.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $68.75 and its 200 day moving average is $69.00. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $54.88 and a fifty-two week high of $74.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.95.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 26,814 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.50, for a total value of $1,890,387.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 99,143 shares in the company, valued at $6,989,581.50. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.