Tidal Investments LLC Has $3.39 Million Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,176 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 698 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $3,391,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Kroger by 218.8% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $784,715.40. This trade represents a 32.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 58,821 shares of company stock valued at $3,445,490. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Trading Down 2.0 %

KR stock opened at $62.06 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $43.51 and a 52 week high of $63.59. The company has a market capitalization of $44.90 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.89. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock 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 boosted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Kroger from $59.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.31.

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.