Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC Invests $207,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 3,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Adirondack Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 1,628.1% in the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kroger by 218.8% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Seven 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.80.

Kroger Price Performance

KR stock opened at $61.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $44.48 and a 1 year high of $63.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s 50-day moving average is $60.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.99.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate 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 program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.