The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Purchased by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 15.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,862 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,977 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,398,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Kroger by 218.8% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR opened at $61.46 on Friday. 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 cap of $44.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.26, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $59.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.85. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $44.48 and a twelve month high of $63.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during 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%. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on KR shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.79.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction of $386,247.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $784,715.40. The trade was a 32.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 202,370 shares of company stock worth $12,530,170. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.