Stolper Co Has $2.33 Million Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Stolper Co grew its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 38,019 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. Stolper Co’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Kroger in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 218.8% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of KR opened at $58.74 on Thursday. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $44.48 and a 52-week high of $63.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.44. The company has a market cap of $42.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54, a PEG ratio of 2.78 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:KR) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. Analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its board has authorized 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KR. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America boosted their target price 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. Finally, Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.93.

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.