OLIO Financial Planning Takes $210,000 Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

OLIO Financial Planning acquired a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after buying an additional 148,221 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,248,000 after buying an additional 53,006 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Kroger by 1.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,697,000 after buying an additional 36,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the third quarter valued at approximately $566,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on KR. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.80.

Insider Activity

In related 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $58.68 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.46 billion, a PE ratio of 15.52, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48. 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 Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $44.48 and a 1-year high of $63.59. The business’s 50 day moving average is $60.17 and its 200-day moving average is $56.83.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.