Coordinated Financial Services Inc. CO Acquires New Position in The Kroger Co. $KR

Key Points

• Coordinated Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Kroger, purchasing 4,628 shares valued at approximately $313,000.
• Analysts have raised price targets for Kroger, with Jefferies Financial Group setting a target of $83 and multiple ratings upgrades from "strong sell" to "buy" or "hold."
• Kroger recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.35 per share, reflecting a 2.1% annualized yield, up from the previous $0.32 dividend.

Coordinated Financial Services Inc. CO acquired a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 4,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $313,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Steadfast Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $277,989,000. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $264,207,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Kroger by 85.3% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,397,771 shares of the company's stock worth $433,065,000 after acquiring an additional 2,945,848 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 1st quarter worth approximately $178,385,000. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its stake in Kroger by 101.7% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 4,084,584 shares of the company's stock worth $276,485,000 after acquiring an additional 2,059,574 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Melius raised shares of Kroger from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $82.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Melius Research raised shares of Kroger from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Roth Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $70.58.

Kroger Stock Down 0.4%

KR stock traded down $0.29 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $67.71. The stock had a trading volume of 7,410,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,667,723. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $50.69 and a 1-year high of $74.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92. The company has a market capitalization of $44.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.45, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $70.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.83.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $45.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.35 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.89% and a return on equity of 34.71%. The firm's revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.600-4.800 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This is a boost from Kroger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 37,960 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.44, for a total value of $2,749,822.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 75,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,448,791.92. This represents a 33.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 16,475 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.79, for a total transaction of $1,215,690.25. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 49,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,642,274.40. This trade represents a 25.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 198,948 shares of company stock worth $14,422,926. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.