shares of kroger co kr rose 09 in premarket trading thursday putting them on track for a fourthstraight gain after the supermarket operator announced a new 1 billions stock repurchase program the company said the new program replaces the current program which had about 157 million remaining the new program represents roughly 3 of krogers market capitalization of about 3287 billion as of wednesdays stock closing price krogers share repurchase authorization reflects our board of directors confidence in the strength of our free cash flow and our ability to deliver consistently strong and attractive total shareholder returns said chief executive rodney mcmullen the stock has rallied 408 this year while the sp 500 spx advanced 276