Stolper Co Raises Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Stolper Co raised its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,019 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. Stolper Co’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mendel Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.6% during the third quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 31,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,808,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. City Center Advisors LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 5,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Kroger by 3.2% in the third quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 1.9% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 11,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 215 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 subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America lifted their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Six 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.93.

Kroger Stock Down 2.0 %

NYSE KR opened at $58.74 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.44. 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 quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market cap of $42.50 billion, a PE ratio of 15.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.