WESPAC Advisors LLC Invests $962,000 in The Kroger Co. $KR

WESPAC Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 13,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $962,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KR. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the first quarter worth about $25,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its position 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Capital Analysts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 46.7% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on KR shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price target on Kroger and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 price target on Kroger and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.63.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR opened at $66.87 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $68.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.01. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $54.88 and a 12-month high of $74.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.97, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.57.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.04. Kroger had a return on equity of 32.62% and a net margin of 1.86%.The company 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 firm posted $0.93 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 3,810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total transaction of $272,834.10. Following the sale, the director owned 85,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,147,718.50. The trade was a 4.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.