CX Institutional Has $2.90 Million Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

CX Institutional raised its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,496 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 833 shares during the period. CX Institutional’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after acquiring an additional 148,221 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,248,000 after acquiring an additional 53,006 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Kroger by 1.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,697,000 after acquiring an additional 36,083 shares during the period. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 2nd quarter worth about $10,336,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KR. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. 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. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.80.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, 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 value of $1,040,302.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This trade represents 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 worth $12,143,923 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kroger Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $58.68 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $44.48 and a 52-week high of $63.59. The company has a market capitalization 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 quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.15 and a 200-day moving average of $56.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Company 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.