USA Financial Formulas Grows Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

USA Financial Formulas increased its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,506 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas’ holdings in Kroger were worth $969,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 6,840.0% during the second quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas increased its holdings in Kroger by 7.4% during the second quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 18,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,339,000 after buying an additional 1,288 shares during the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 8.3% during the second quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group increased its holdings in Kroger by 51.6% during the second quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 8,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $629,000 after buying an additional 2,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in Kroger by 7.1% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 208,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,946,000 after buying an additional 13,737 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR opened at $66.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.98. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $54.88 and a 1-year high of $74.90. The firm has a market cap of $44.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.57.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $33.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. 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 fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 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 is currently 35.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 26,814 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.50, for a total transaction of $1,890,387.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 99,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,989,581.50. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on KR shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Barclays started coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, July 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.63.

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.