Norden Group LLC Purchases 64,710 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

Key Points

• Norden Group LLC increased its stake in The Kroger Co. by 1,336.4% during the second quarter, acquiring an additional 64,710 shares to hold a total of 69,552 shares valued at approximately $4.99 million.
• Kroger reported earnings per share of $1.04 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 0.1% to $33.94 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 2.1%, with the dividend payment scheduled for December 1st.

Norden Group LLC lifted its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 1,336.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,552 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 64,710 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC's holdings in Kroger were worth $4,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 4,437 shares of the company's stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $144,000. Financial Enhancement Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 84,327 shares of the company's stock worth $5,952,000 after acquiring an additional 1,974 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 39.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 4,904 shares of the company's stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,386 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 27,607 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,980,000 after purchasing an additional 2,398 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Kroger Price Performance

KR stock opened at $65.35 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $69.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.99. The company has a market capitalization of $43.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.59, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.59. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $54.88 and a 52-week high of $74.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.04. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The firm had revenue of $33.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, September 12th. 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. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Kroger from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $73.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 26,814 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.50, for a total transaction of $1,890,387.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 99,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,989,581.50. This trade represents a 21.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Mary Ellen Adcock sold 34,250 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.16, for a total transaction of $2,437,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 184,473 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,127,098.68. This represents a 15.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 64,874 shares of company stock valued at $4,600,451 in the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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