Lmcg Investments LLC Sells 1,486 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Lmcg Investments LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 25.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,350 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,486 shares during the quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 15,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $954,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 5,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $241,000. Clarius Group LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 7,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,000 after buying an additional 2,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J2 Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $817,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BNP Paribas began coverage on Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Kroger in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.14.

Kroger Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $59.02 on Wednesday. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $44.48 and a 12-month high of $63.59. 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 firm has a market cap of $42.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.67.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period last year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at $6,965,563.32. This trade represents a 18.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.