Cvfg LLC Purchases New Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Cvfg LLC purchased a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,835 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 20.0% during the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 10,565 shares of the company's stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,288,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in Kroger by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 380,991 shares of the company's stock worth $19,023,000 after purchasing an additional 12,447 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in Kroger by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 27,202 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 21.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 87,012 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,345,000 after buying an additional 15,529 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KR. Melius Research assumed coverage on Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a "hold" rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $65.93.

Kroger Trading Down 0.5 %

KR stock traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $58.34. The stock had a trading volume of 5,510,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,796,880. 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 cap of $42.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $60.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.48. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $44.48 and a 1-year high of $63.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $1,040,302.08. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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.