Hook Mill Capital Partners LP Invests $6.32 Million in The Kroger Co. $KR

Hook Mill Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 88,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,316,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in Kroger by 6,840.0% during the second quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in Kroger by 10,425.0% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 87.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 445 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KR. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday. Argus set a $85.00 price target on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 price target on Kroger and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.18.

Kroger Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $63.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $58.12 and a 12-month high of $74.90. The company has a market cap of $41.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.47, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.00.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its 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. Kroger had a net margin of 0.54% and a return on equity of 38.06%. The firm had revenue of $33.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.750-4.800 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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

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.