Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC Sells 4,425 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 35.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,125 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,425 shares during the quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $497,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after buying an additional 148,221 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Kroger by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,248,000 after buying an additional 53,006 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Kroger by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,697,000 after buying an additional 36,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth about $566,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction 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 approximately $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.80.

Kroger Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of KR stock opened at $58.68 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $42.46 billion, a PE ratio of 15.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.83. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $44.48 and a 1 year high of $63.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released 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 net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

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