Todd A. Foley Sells 16,932 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’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 owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Kroger Stock Up 1.5 %

KR stock opened at $61.85 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $44.48 and a 1-year high of $63.59. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.36, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Kroger by 11,570.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,706,398 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings 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. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 110.5% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,574,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,828,000 after buying an additional 1,876,397 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Kroger by 698.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,878,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,792,000 after buying an additional 1,643,307 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Kroger from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.43.

About Kroger

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.