Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Increases Position in The Kroger Co. $KR

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 7.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,951 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,485 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 6,840.0% in the second quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter worth $29,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 10,425.0% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 421 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the first quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on KR. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 26th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.50.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $63.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $67.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.11. The company has a market cap of $42.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.14, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.57. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $55.69 and a 12 month high of $74.90.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 2.2%. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 35.53%.

Kroger Company 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.