The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) is Gill Capital Partners LLC's 3rd Largest Position

Gill Capital Partners LLC lessened its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 29.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 200,020 shares of the company's stock after selling 85,487 shares during the quarter. Kroger makes up about 4.4% of Gill Capital Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Gill Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Kroger were worth $12,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 4,539 shares of the company's stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 31,559 shares of the company's stock worth $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,366 shares of the company's stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. City Center Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 5,748 shares of the company's stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SignalPoint Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 3.2% in the third quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company's stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Six investment 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.93.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at $6,965,563.32. This represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kroger Trading Down 0.5 %

Kroger stock traded down $0.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $58.34. The company had a trading volume of 5,510,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,451,751. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $60.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.57. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $44.48 and a 1-year high of $63.59. The stock has a market cap of $42.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 company's quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger 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.