Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 3,200 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 54,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,200 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $3,333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the third quarter worth $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Kroger by 218.8% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Kroger during the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Kroger during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE KR opened at $58.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $42.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.48 and a fifty-two week high of $63.59. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.93.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. This trade represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.