Lmcg Investments LLC Has $266,000 Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Lmcg Investments LLC cut its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 25.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,350 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,486 shares during the quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Kroger by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $914,795,000 after purchasing an additional 126,303 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Kroger by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,456,000 after buying an additional 917,923 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Kroger by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,246,000 after buying an additional 37,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 96.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,689,000 after buying an additional 2,643,811 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on KR shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.14.

Kroger Price Performance

Kroger stock opened at $59.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $60.19 and its 200-day moving average is $56.67. 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 12 month low of $44.48 and a 12 month high of $63.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Company 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.