The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 48,590,000 shares, a growth of 307.0% from the December 31st total of 11,940,000 shares. Approximately 6.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 4,910,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 9.9 days.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Kroger by 95.2% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 23,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 11,491 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Kroger by 96.6% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,689,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643,811 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Kroger by 1.7% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 401,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,031,000 after purchasing an additional 6,585 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 9.8% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 42,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 3,827 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 92.0% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 1,086 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on KR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.80.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KR traded up $0.62 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $60.99. 131,533 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,016,452. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.96. Kroger has a 52-week low of $44.48 and a 52-week high of $63.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.13 billion, a PE ratio of 16.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.