The Kroger Co. $KR Shares Acquired by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 39.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,344 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,920 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 2nd quarter worth about $518,267,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 7.9% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,126,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,028,000 after buying an additional 300,784 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 101.7% in the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 4,084,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,485,000 after acquiring an additional 2,059,574 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2.9% during the second quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 2,956,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,044,000 after acquiring an additional 83,735 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,743,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,763,000 after acquiring an additional 260,753 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (down from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Evercore ISI set a $77.00 price target on Kroger and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Argus set a $85.00 price target on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.13.

Kroger Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $63.00 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.72. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $58.12 and a 52 week high of $74.90. The stock has a market cap of $39.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.33, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.27 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 0.54% and a return on equity of 38.06%. The company’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.750-4.800 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Company Profile

The Kroger Co (NYSE: KR) is one of the largest supermarket operators in the United States, offering a wide range of retail grocery and related services. Founded in Cincinnati in 1883 by Bernard Kroger, the company operates a portfolio of supermarket and multi-department store banners and provides customers with fresh foods, packaged groceries, deli and bakery items, meat and seafood, produce, and prepared foods. Kroger’s stores commonly include pharmacy services and fuel centers, positioning the company as a broad-based neighborhood retail destination for everyday needs.

In addition to traditional in-store retailing, Kroger manufactures and distributes a variety of private-label brands and operates its own food production and supply-chain facilities.