68,845 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Purchased by Avanza Fonder AB

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 68,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,210,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Kroger by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,717,000 after acquiring an additional 148,221 shares during the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth about $1,113,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 53,006 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,697,000 after buying an additional 36,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,336,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE KR opened at $58.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.48. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $44.48 and a twelve month high of $63.59. The company has a market capitalization of $42.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % 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 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. The trade was 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 valued at $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.93.

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.