West Coast Financial LLC Purchases 431 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

West Coast Financial LLC lifted its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 148,919 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $9,106,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in KR. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Kroger by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after buying an additional 148,221 shares during the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,113,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,248,000 after acquiring an additional 53,006 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 1.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,697,000 after purchasing an additional 36,083 shares during the period. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter valued at $10,336,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

KR opened at $58.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 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. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.44. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $44.48 and a one year high of $63.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm’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 firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price 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, Guggenheim started coverage on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.93.

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.