Daymark Wealth Partners LLC Boosts Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 92,715 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $5,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after buying an additional 148,221 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,248,000 after buying an additional 53,006 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,697,000 after buying an additional 36,083 shares during the period. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter worth $10,336,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KR shares. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.14.

Kroger Stock Up 1.1 %

KR opened at $59.02 on Wednesday. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $44.48 and a 12 month high of $63.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The company 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,965,563.32. The trade was a 18.26 % 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 worth $12,143,923 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.