65,478 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Bought by Advocate Group LLC

Advocate Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 65,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,004,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Kroger by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 0.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Kroger by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,456,000 after purchasing an additional 917,923 shares in 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 purchasing an additional 37,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,643,811 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $58.68 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.79. The firm has a market cap of $42.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.52, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $44.48 and a 52-week high of $63.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its board has initiated 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 buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at $6,965,563.32. This trade represents a 18.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Kroger in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.80.

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.