Nexus Investment Management ULC Acquires 175 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Nexus Investment Management ULC lifted its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,115 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,942,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KR. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Kroger by 3.8% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,113,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Kroger by 1.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 53,006 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the second quarter worth $10,336,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on KR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America increased their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Melius Research began coverage on Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.93.

Kroger Trading Down 0.5 %

Kroger stock opened at $58.34 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.22 and a 200-day moving average of $56.53. The company has a market cap of $42.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $44.48 and a one year high of $63.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. 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 prior year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger 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.