Empowered Funds LLC Buys 25,112 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 27.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 116,088 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,112 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $8,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 8,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $576,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc lifted its holdings in Kroger by 2.0% in the second quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 7,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $553,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Cairn Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Kroger by 0.3% in the second quarter. Cairn Investment Group Inc. now owns 58,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,225,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Independent Wealth Network Inc. boosted its position in Kroger by 0.9% during the second quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 19,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Kroger by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. Argus set a $85.00 price objective on Kroger in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.50.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR opened at $67.44 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $66.51 and its 200 day moving average is $68.55. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $57.08 and a 12-month high of $74.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The stock has a market cap of $44.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.55.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.04. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The business had revenue of $33.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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

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.