Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. cut its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,696 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Kroger by 6.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after buying an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $914,795,000 after acquiring an additional 126,303 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Kroger by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,456,000 after purchasing an additional 917,923 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Kroger by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,246,000 after purchasing an additional 37,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Kroger by 96.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643,811 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Roth Mkm upped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Six equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.14.

Kroger Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:KR opened at $59.02 on Wednesday. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $44.48 and a 52 week high of $63.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The company has a market cap of $42.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s 50 day moving average is $60.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.67.

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

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.