Thompson Investment Management Inc. Buys Shares of 530 The Kroger Co. $KR

Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Kroger by 1.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,299,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $967,863,000 after acquiring an additional 186,302 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 85.3% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,397,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $433,065,000 after buying an additional 2,945,848 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,067,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $342,999,000 after buying an additional 31,477 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 101.7% during the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 4,084,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,485,000 after buying an additional 2,059,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter worth $178,385,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 3,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total transaction of $272,834.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 85,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,147,718.50. This represents a 4.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Trading Up 0.5%

Kroger stock opened at $67.88 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $44.98 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $68.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.05. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $54.88 and a 52 week high of $74.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KR. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price target (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price target on Kroger and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Roth Mkm raised Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Argus set a $85.00 price objective on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.63.

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.