SteelPeak Wealth LLC Purchases 3,379 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,238 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,379 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Adirondack Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 1,628.1% during the 4th quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kroger by 218.8% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Kroger in the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Kroger during the third quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was 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 directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.80.

Kroger Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $60.46 on Wednesday. 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 Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $44.48 and a 52-week high of $63.59. The stock has a market cap of $43.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $60.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.91.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

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

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.