Stuart Aitken Sells 132,627 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value 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 approximately $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Kroger Price Performance

KR stock opened at $60.89 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $58.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.09. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $44.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $44.48 and a 1 year high of $63.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 3.6% in the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 13,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,269,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,426,000 after buying an additional 281,878 shares in the last quarter. Tri Ri Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,037,000. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in Kroger by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 10,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $619,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in Kroger by 1.2% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 59,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,391,000 after acquiring an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on KR shares. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.31.

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.