Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 93.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 33,867 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,350 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,071,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 218.8% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $58.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $44.48 and a 1 year high of $63.59. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion during 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%. Kroger’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were 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 directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $1,556,446.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,965,563.32. This represents a 18.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KR. Melius Research began coverage on Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Roth Mkm lifted 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. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.93.

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.