J2 Capital Management Inc Makes New Investment in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

J2 Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 13,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,000. Kroger makes up 0.8% of J2 Capital Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on KR shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Kroger from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.93.

Kroger Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of KR opened at $58.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a PEG 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $60.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.53. 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 issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. This represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.