The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Acquired by Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC

Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,434 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,448 shares during the period. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Kroger by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after purchasing an additional 148,221 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,248,000 after buying an additional 53,006 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,697,000 after buying an additional 36,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the third quarter valued at approximately $566,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on KR shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 insiders.

Kroger Stock Up 3.1 %

KR stock opened at $60.50 on Tuesday. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.48 and a fifty-two week high of $63.59. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $60.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.85. 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 capitalization of $43.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management 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.