Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. Takes $86,000 Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Kroger by 40.7% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 90,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,498,000 after buying an additional 26,079 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 8.5% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 121,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,078,000 after purchasing an additional 9,517 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 26,287.1% during the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 8,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 8,149 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 95.2% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Kroger by 698.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,878,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,792,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643,307 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities 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.com, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.14.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $58.78 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $60.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.73. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $42.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.55, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $44.48 and a one year high of $63.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 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. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.