J2 Capital Management Inc Makes New $817,000 Investment in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

J2 Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 13,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,000. Kroger makes up approximately 0.8% of J2 Capital Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Kroger by 11,570.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706,398 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,643,811 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after buying an additional 2,110,681 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in shares of Kroger by 110.5% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 1,876,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Kroger by 698.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,878,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,792,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643,307 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related 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 transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Guggenheim started coverage on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.93.

Kroger Stock Down 0.5 %

KR stock opened at $58.34 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $44.48 and a 52 week high of $63.59. 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 company has a market cap 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $60.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.53.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically 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.