The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Acquired by RDA Financial Network

RDA Financial Network lifted its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,702 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. RDA Financial Network’s holdings in Kroger were worth $471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kroger by 218.8% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of Kroger 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KR. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America raised their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. 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. Finally, Roth Mkm raised 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. 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.93.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $58.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.46. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $44.48 and a 12 month high of $63.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued 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 return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.