The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock Holdings Reduced by LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI trimmed its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 211,471 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,702 shares during the quarter. Kroger makes up about 1.4% of LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in Kroger were worth $12,931,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the third quarter worth $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Kroger by 218.8% in 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 last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Kroger during the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. StockNews.com raised Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.93.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of Kroger stock traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $59.59. 1,820,034 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,795,228. The company has a market cap of $43.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.48 and a fifty-two week high of $63.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.15.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. Kroger’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Kroger

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.