The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock Holdings Lifted by Hilltop National Bank

Hilltop National Bank boosted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 29.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,370 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,476 shares during the quarter. Hilltop National Bank’s holdings in Kroger were worth $940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 218.8% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Up 0.4 %

KR traded up $0.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $59.11. 1,027,211 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,678,257. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.48 and a fifty-two week high of $63.59. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.15. The stock has a market cap of $42.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is 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.