4,052 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Purchased by Simon Quick Advisors LLC

Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. 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. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.80.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $58.68 on Friday. 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 Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $44.48 and a 1 year high of $63.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $60.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.74. The stock has a market cap of $42.46 billion, a PE ratio of 15.52, a price-to-earnings-growth 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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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 buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.