The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stake Reduced by B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,019 shares of the company’s stock after selling 286 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the third quarter worth $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 218.8% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Kroger in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total transaction of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,036.44. This trade represents a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 188,438 shares of company stock valued at $11,657,598 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on KR. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $59.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.31.

Kroger Trading Down 0.5 %

Kroger stock opened at $60.89 on Thursday. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $44.48 and a 52 week high of $63.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $58.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.09.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. Kroger’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign 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.