Retireful LLC Invests $708,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Retireful LLC purchased a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 11,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $708,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 11,570.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,417,000 after buying an additional 2,706,398 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Kroger by 96.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,689,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643,811 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 position in Kroger by 110.5% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,574,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,876,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,643,307 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KR. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. 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 report on Friday, December 20th. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Kroger from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Six research 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.93.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. This trade represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the company’s 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 approximately $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $58.68 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.26 and a 200-day moving average of $56.46. The company has a market cap of $42.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $44.48 and a 52 week high of $63.59.

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

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board 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.