Washington Capital Management Inc. Has $786,000 Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Washington Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 267.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,850 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,350 shares during the period. Washington Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Kroger by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 126,303 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Kroger by 0.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,246,000 after buying an additional 37,222 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,248,000 after buying an additional 53,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Kroger by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,717,000 after buying an additional 148,221 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.80.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR opened at $61.13 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $44.48 and a 52-week high of $63.59. The company has a market cap of $44.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.96.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released 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. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % 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 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.