Cooper Financial Group Has $328,000 Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Cooper Financial Group boosted its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KRFree Report) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,366 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 190 shares during the quarter. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in Kroger were worth $328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Kroger by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after buying an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 0.8% during the 3rd 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. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,456,000 after purchasing an additional 917,923 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position 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 last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 96.6% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643,811 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:KR opened at $59.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.44. 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 $43.36 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Kroger (NYSE:KRGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on KR shares. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.93.

Get Our Latest Report on KR

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the company’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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were 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 directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Kroger

(Free Report)

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.

Read More

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Kroger (NYSE:KR)

Receive News & Ratings for Kroger Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kroger and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.