Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Buys 176 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,539 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Spring Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Spring Capital Management LLC now owns 83,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,076,000 after acquiring an additional 1,538 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 11,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $733,000 after acquiring an additional 2,669 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $4,210,000. RDA Financial Network raised its position in shares of Kroger by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Cvfg LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $296,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on KR shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group raised 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. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.93.

Kroger Stock Down 0.5 %

KR stock opened at $58.34 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $44.48 and a 12 month high of $63.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the company’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. This 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 valued at $12,143,923 in the last three months. 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.