Forsta AP Fonden Purchases 86,600 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Forsta AP Fonden increased its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 61.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 227,800 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,600 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Kroger were worth $13,930,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of KR. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Kroger by 11,570.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,706,398 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Kroger by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110,681 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Kroger by 110.5% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,574,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,876,397 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 163.1% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,382,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,219,000 after acquiring an additional 857,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 569.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 812,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,538,000 after purchasing an additional 690,884 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $61.13 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $60.26 and a 200 day moving average of $56.96. The company has a market capitalization of $44.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17, 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

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. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value 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 $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.80.

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.