Voleon Capital Management LP Acquires New Position in The Kroger Co. $KR

Key Points

• Voleon Capital Management LP has purchased 13,379 shares of The Kroger Co. ($KR), valued at approximately $906,000, as part of their first-quarter investments.
• Insider transactions included Mary Ellen Adcock selling 34,250 shares and Clyde R. Moore selling 26,814 shares, reflecting significant decreases in their ownership positions.
• Kroger has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.32 to $0.35, representing a 2.1% yield based on an annualized payout of $1.40.

Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 13,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $906,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the first quarter worth $25,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the first quarter worth $31,000. Capital Analysts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the first quarter worth $36,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the first quarter worth $38,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of Kroger stock traded up $1.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $68.38. The stock had a trading volume of 8,310,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,930,176. The stock's 50 day moving average is $70.39 and its 200 day moving average is $68.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.19 billion, a PE ratio of 17.35, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.60. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $54.51 and a twelve month 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $33.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.08 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The company's revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. Equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This is an increase from Kroger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Kroger's payout ratio is currently 35.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $70.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 16,475 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.79, for a total value of $1,215,690.25. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 49,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,642,274.40. The trade was a 25.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 26,814 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.50, for a total value of $1,890,387.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 99,143 shares in the company, valued at $6,989,581.50. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 198,948 shares of company stock valued at $14,422,926. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.