The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Bought by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 93.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 20.0% during the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 10,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 1,760 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 5.0% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 27,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,358,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Kroger by 0.6% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 160,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,014,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter worth about $1,536,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at about $432,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $58.34 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.48 and a fifty-two week high of $63.59. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.25 and a 200 day moving average of $56.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 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 business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a share 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 reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Kroger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.93.

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.