Avior Wealth Management LLC Sells 659 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Avior Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,683 shares of the company’s stock after selling 659 shares during the quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $4,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KR. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110,681 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Kroger by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $914,795,000 after purchasing an additional 126,303 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,456,000 after purchasing an additional 917,923 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 valued at $353,246,000 after purchasing an additional 37,222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Kroger by 96.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after buying an additional 2,643,811 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kroger Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:KR opened at $58.78 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.73. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $44.48 and a one year high of $63.59. The firm has a market cap of $42.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at $8,444,361.80. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % 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 valued at $12,143,923 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. 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 research note on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.14.

Kroger 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.