Summit Financial LLC Purchases New Stake in The Kroger Co. $KR

Key Points

• Summit Financial LLC has acquired a new position in The Kroger Co., purchasing 9,595 shares worth approximately $650,000.
• Institutional investors now own 80.93% of Kroger's stock, reflecting significant interest from various hedge funds, including IFC Advisors and Rothschild Investment.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Kroger, with Telsey Advisory Group setting a new target of $82.00, indicating a bullish outlook for the stock.

Summit Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 9,595 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $650,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Kroger by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 965,081 shares of the company's stock worth $65,327,000 after acquiring an additional 15,125 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Kroger during the 1st quarter worth about $335,000. Capital Analysts LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at about $504,000. Finally, Credit Agricole S A raised its position in Kroger by 33.8% in the 1st quarter. Credit Agricole S A now owns 310,255 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,001,000 after purchasing an additional 78,299 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR traded down $0.57 during trading on Thursday, reaching $67.41. The company had a trading volume of 4,676,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,061,475. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $71.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.64. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.69 and a fifty-two week high of $74.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $45.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.35 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 34.71% and a net margin of 1.89%.The company's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.600-4.800 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS 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 paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Kroger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.15%.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, EVP Mary Ellen Adcock sold 34,250 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.16, for a total value of $2,437,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 184,473 shares in the company, valued at $13,127,098.68. The trade was a 15.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Timothy A. Massa sold 8,415 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $622,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 118,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,788,314. This trade represents a 6.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 198,948 shares of company stock valued at $14,422,926. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Roth Capital increased their price target on Kroger from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price target on Kroger and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 target price on Kroger and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on Kroger from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $70.58.

Kroger Company 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.