The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lowered its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,915 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,102 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $545,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of KR. Mendel Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.6% during the third quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 31,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group raised its holdings in Kroger by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. City Center Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 3.5% during 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 in the last quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 during the period. Finally, RDA Financial Network boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $471,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was 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 $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:KR opened at $58.34 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The company has a market capitalization of $42.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $60.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.61. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $44.48 and a 52 week high of $63.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on KR shares. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 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. BNP Paribas began coverage on Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Kroger from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.