MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Sells 1,143 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lowered its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,123 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,143 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in Kroger were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. State Street Corp raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $914,795,000 after buying an additional 126,303 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,456,000 after acquiring an additional 917,923 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 37,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Kroger by 96.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643,811 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.14.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 value of $1,556,446.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. The trade was a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE KR opened at $58.78 on Thursday. 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.53 billion, a PE ratio of 15.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $60.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.72.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. On average, analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Kroger

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.