The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Acquired by Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lifted its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,285 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $556,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the second quarter worth $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew 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 in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on KR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Roth Mkm upped 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.93.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $58.34 on Friday. 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 50 day moving average price of $60.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.53. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.48 and a fifty-two week high of $63.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.