The Kroger Co. $KR is Cambridge Financial Group Inc.’s 6th Largest Position

Cambridge Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 26.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 101,333 shares of the company’s stock after selling 36,235 shares during the period. Kroger comprises 3.7% of Cambridge Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Cambridge Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $7,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Kroger by 110.8% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 751,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,892,000 after purchasing an additional 395,098 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 2.0% in the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 20,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Kroger by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 34,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,199 shares during the period. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in Kroger by 48.4% in the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 16,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,148,000 after purchasing an additional 5,530 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR opened at $64.89 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.82. 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 Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $57.08 and a 52 week high of $74.90. The stock has a market cap of $43.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 35.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on KR shares. Argus set a $85.00 price target on Kroger in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.50.

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.