The Kroger Co. $KR Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 7.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,126,866 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 300,784 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.62% of Kroger worth $296,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new position in Kroger during the second quarter worth about $277,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 2,956,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,044,000 after purchasing an additional 83,735 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 50,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $667,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,061,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated 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. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Argus set a $85.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.50.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $66.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $43.77 billion, a PE ratio of 16.76, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 $57.69 and a 52 week high of $74.90. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.45.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 32.62%. Kroger’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. 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 2.1%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.