Strategic Investment Advisors MI Decreases Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Strategic Investment Advisors MI lowered its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,059 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,196 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Advisors MI’s holdings in Kroger were worth $615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of KR. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Adirondack Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 1,628.1% in the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the third quarter worth about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $58.68 on Monday. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $44.48 and a twelve month high of $63.59. The firm has a market cap of $42.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.52, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $60.17 and a 200 day moving average of $56.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on KR. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were 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 directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger 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.