Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC Raises Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,567 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,308 shares during the quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $646,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KR. Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its holdings in Kroger by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 48,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,942,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Mendel Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 0.6% in the third quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 31,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group grew 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 acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City Center Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 5,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.80.

Kroger Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of KR stock opened at $60.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $60.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.85. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $44.48 and a twelve month high of $63.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. Kroger’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities 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 stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last 90 days. Company 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.