WINTON GROUP Ltd Acquires Shares of 49,791 The Kroger Co. $KR

WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 49,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,111,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its holdings in Kroger by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 233,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,582,000 after buying an additional 26,700 shares in the last quarter. Avise Financial Cooperative Inc. purchased a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $476,000. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its holdings in Kroger by 33.6% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 30,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,913,000 after buying an additional 7,700 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 11,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 190,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,881,000 after purchasing an additional 21,521 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.73.

Key Headlines Impacting Kroger

Here are the key news stories impacting Kroger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Kroger is promoting its new limited-time “All-American Ice Cream Collection” and giving away 100,000 free pints for the summer solstice, a marketing push that could lift traffic and reinforce customer engagement. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports noted new or upcoming Kroger Marketplace openings and development progress in Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia, signaling continued store expansion and local market investment. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several lifestyle and local-news pieces highlighted the ice cream giveaway and store openings, but these are largely promotional updates rather than material financial catalysts. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Kroger agreed to a $2.5 million DOJ settlement over alleged Clean Air Act emissions violations, which adds a legal and compliance overhang even if the dollar amount is relatively small. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: A report suggesting Kroger may lose more executives could raise concerns about management turnover and continuity. Article Title

Kroger Stock Up 0.0%

KR stock opened at $63.59 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $58.60 and a 52 week high of $76.58.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $34.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.10 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 0.69% and a return on equity of 41.08%. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 91.50%.

About Kroger

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.