Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Purchases 5,944 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 42,648 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,944 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aspiring Ventures LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $233,000. apricus wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Kroger by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 49,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,021,000 after buying an additional 805 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 14,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $897,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its stake in Kroger by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 47,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,904,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LexAurum Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. LexAurum Advisors LLC now owns 5,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $58.68 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.48 and a fifty-two 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 $42.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.79.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its 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 the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. Kroger’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. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Seven investment 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.80.

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 directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 in the last 90 days. 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.