The Kroger Co. $KR Shares Bought by RWA Wealth Partners LLC

Key Points

• RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 30.2% in the first quarter, now owning 16,072 shares valued at approximately $1,088,000.
• Kroger has recently disclosed a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, which reflects a positive change from the previous dividend of $0.32, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.0%.
• In recent insider activity, EVP Mary Ellen Adcock sold 34,250 shares of Kroger stock, indicating a 15.66% decrease in her position, whilst insiders sold a total of 198,948 shares valued at approximately $14.4 million in the last 90 days.

RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 30.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,072 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,729 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Kroger were worth $1,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KR. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,733 shares of the company's stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 3,373 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 30,563 shares of the company's stock worth $1,869,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 57,463 shares of the company's stock worth $3,514,000 after buying an additional 7,344 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 92.0% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 47,881 shares of the company's stock worth $2,928,000 after purchasing an additional 22,946 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KR. Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Barclays began coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, July 21st. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Melius raised shares of Kroger from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $82.00 price target (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $70.58.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Yael Cosset sold 71,224 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total transaction of $5,234,251.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 139,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,224,222.76. The trade was a 33.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 16,475 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.79, for a total transaction of $1,215,690.25. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 49,360 shares in the company, valued at $3,642,274.40. The trade was a 25.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 198,948 shares of company stock valued at $14,422,926 in the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR traded down $1.9870 during trading on Friday, hitting $69.4330. The company had a trading volume of 6,981,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,605,369. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.56. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.69 and a fifty-two week high of $74.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92.

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

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This is a boost from Kroger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.15%.

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.