The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Short Interest Up 307.0% in December

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 48,590,000 shares, a growth of 307.0% from the December 15th total of 11,940,000 shares. Approximately 6.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,910,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.9 days.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. This trade represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $914,795,000 after acquiring an additional 126,303 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Kroger by 5.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,562,000 after acquiring an additional 723,771 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Kroger by 13.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,456,000 after acquiring an additional 917,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,246,000 after purchasing an additional 37,222 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.93.

Kroger Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:KR traded down $1.18 on Wednesday, reaching $58.74. The stock had a trading volume of 4,719,737 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,016,091. The company has a market cap of $42.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.48. Kroger has a 12-month low of $44.48 and a 12-month high of $63.59. 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’s fifty day moving average is $60.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.44.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly 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. 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.