DGS Capital Management LLC Purchases 1,612 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

DGS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,669 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,612 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $897,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Kroger by 11,570.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,417,000 after buying an additional 2,706,398 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Kroger by 96.6% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643,811 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in shares of Kroger by 110.5% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,574,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,876,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 13.4% in the second 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, 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 owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America increased their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.80.

Kroger Trading Up 0.2 %

KR opened at $58.68 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $44.48 and a one year high of $63.59. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.