KBC Group NV Acquires 9,804 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 398,448 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,804 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.06% of Kroger worth $24,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KR. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,717,000 after buying an additional 148,221 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 valued at $280,248,000 after acquiring an additional 53,006 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 1.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,697,000 after purchasing an additional 36,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth $566,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 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. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on KR. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.80.

Kroger Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of KR stock opened at $60.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $60.21 and a 200-day moving average of $56.91. 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 stock has a market cap of $43.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $44.48 and a 1-year high of $63.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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.