Meyer Handelman Co. Buys 29,554 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

Meyer Handelman Co. raised its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 30.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 125,268 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,554 shares during the quarter. Meyer Handelman Co.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $8,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $63.24 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $65.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.88. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $58.12 and a 52-week high of $74.90. The stock has a market cap of $40.02 billion, a PE ratio of 58.55, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the subject of several research reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Evercore ISI set a $77.00 price target on shares of Kroger and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday. Roth Capital upgraded Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 target price (down previously from $74.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.13.

About Kroger

The Kroger Co (NYSE: KR) is one of the largest supermarket operators in the United States, offering a wide range of retail grocery and related services. Founded in Cincinnati in 1883 by Bernard Kroger, the company operates a portfolio of supermarket and multi-department store banners and provides customers with fresh foods, packaged groceries, deli and bakery items, meat and seafood, produce, and prepared foods. Kroger’s stores commonly include pharmacy services and fuel centers, positioning the company as a broad-based neighborhood retail destination for everyday needs.

In addition to traditional in-store retailing, Kroger manufactures and distributes a variety of private-label brands and operates its own food production and supply-chain facilities.