Todd A. Foley Sells 16,932 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Kroger Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of KR traded up $1.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $62.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 21,506,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,812,450. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The company’s 50-day moving average is $58.71 and its 200-day moving average is $55.13. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $44.48 and a 52-week high of $63.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.53, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on KR shares. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.43.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

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

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.