Wedmont Private Capital Buys 440 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,717 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 440 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Kroger were worth $456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 19,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,211,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $281,000. City Center Advisors LLC raised its position in Kroger by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 5,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co lifted its stake in Kroger by 510.2% during the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 1,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim began coverage on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.93.

Kroger Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $58.74 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $60.28 and a 200-day moving average of $56.44. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $44.48 and a one year high of $63.59. The stock 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.