Osaic Holdings Inc. Increases Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 40.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 207,292 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 59,911 shares during the quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $14,866,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in Kroger by 102.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 168,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,079,000 after purchasing an additional 85,223 shares in the last quarter. Monument Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the second quarter valued at about $2,901,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in Kroger by 2,313.4% in the second quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 138,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,964,000 after buying an additional 133,159 shares in the last quarter. Advocate Group LLC lifted its holdings in Kroger by 16.6% in the second quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 121,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,707,000 after buying an additional 17,284 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorShares Investments LLC bought a new stake in Kroger during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $480,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 target price (down previously from $78.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI set a $77.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target (down from $74.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.18.

Kroger Price Performance

KR opened at $62.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $39.69 billion, a PE ratio of 58.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $65.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.87. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $58.12 and a 1 year high of $74.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.27 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 0.54% and a return on equity of 38.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.750-4.800 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.