Clarius Group LLC Purchases 2,285 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Clarius Group LLC grew its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 47.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,106 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Kroger by 11,570.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,417,000 after buying an additional 2,706,398 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 96.6% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643,811 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Kroger by 6.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110,681 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in Kroger by 110.5% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 1,876,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Kroger by 698.8% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,878,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,307 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on KR shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.93.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR opened at $58.34 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.57. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $44.48 and a 12-month high of $63.59. The company has a market capitalization 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 has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % 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 Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. The trade was a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.