Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC grew its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 14.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,567 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,308 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Kroger by 95.2% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 23,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after buying an additional 11,491 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 96.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643,811 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.7% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 401,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,031,000 after purchasing an additional 6,585 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 42,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,143,000 after acquiring an additional 3,827 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in Kroger by 92.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 1,086 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. 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. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.80.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR opened at $60.50 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $60.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.85. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $44.48 and a one year 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 stock has a market cap of $43.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced 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 analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’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 value of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Corporate 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.