The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Short Interest Update

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at $6,965,563.32. The trade was a 18.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. This represents a 12.15 % 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 worth $12,143,923 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Kroger by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after purchasing an additional 148,221 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,248,000 after acquiring an additional 53,006 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Kroger by 1.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,697,000 after buying an additional 36,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the third quarter valued at about $566,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:KR traded down $0.02 on Tuesday, reaching $60.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,890,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,308,596. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $60.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.91. Kroger has a 1-year low of $44.48 and a 1-year high of $63.59. The firm has a market cap of $43.75 billion, a PE ratio of 15.99, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on KR shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.80.

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.