Insider Selling: The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) CFO Sells 16,932 Shares of Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Kroger Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of KR stock opened at $61.85 on Monday. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $44.48 and a 52-week high of $63.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.22. 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 company has a market capitalization of $44.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 11,570.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706,398 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Kroger by 96.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,689,000 after buying an additional 2,643,811 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after buying an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 110.5% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,574,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,828,000 after buying an additional 1,876,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on KR. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Six 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.43.

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.