The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Acquired by Ballentine Partners LLC

Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,604 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 11,570.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,706,398 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 96.6% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643,811 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Kroger by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in Kroger by 110.5% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,574,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,828,000 after buying an additional 1,876,397 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Kroger by 698.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,878,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,792,000 after buying an additional 1,643,307 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Down 0.4 %

KR stock opened at $58.78 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $42.53 billion, a PE ratio of 15.55, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $44.48 and a 1 year high of $63.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.72. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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 plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.