3,392 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Bought by Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC

Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Adirondack Trust Co. raised its stake in Kroger by 1,628.1% in the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Kroger in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised 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 buying an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of KR opened at $61.03 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $44.48 and a 12 month high of $63.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $60.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.99. The firm has a market cap of $44.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.14, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. The trade was 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 hyperlink. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $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 have sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.