The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock Position Increased by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 48.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 85,171 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 27,753 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $5,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Kroger by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after buying an additional 2,110,681 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $914,795,000 after purchasing an additional 126,303 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,246,000 after purchasing an additional 37,222 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Kroger by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,717,000 after purchasing an additional 148,221 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $61.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $44.16 billion, a PE ratio of 16.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $44.48 and a 12 month high of $63.59. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.99.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.80.

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.