The Kroger Co. $KR Shares Bought by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 26.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 196,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,500 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $14,059,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Monument Capital Management purchased a new position in Kroger in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,901,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 2,313.4% during the second quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 138,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,964,000 after purchasing an additional 133,159 shares during the period. Advocate Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 16.6% during the second quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 121,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,707,000 after purchasing an additional 17,284 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the second quarter worth $480,000. Finally, Liberty One Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.4% in the second quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 463,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,255,000 after purchasing an additional 6,528 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus set a $85.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI set a $77.00 price target on Kroger and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.39.

Kroger Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $63.41 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $66.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.17. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $57.69 and a 52-week high of $74.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.72, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 129.63%.

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.