Pacer Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 48.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,171 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,753 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $5,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KR. Nexus Investment Management ULC boosted its position in Kroger by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 48,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,942,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 0.6% in the third quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 31,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group lifted its position in Kroger by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, City Center Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 5,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Performance

Kroger stock opened at $61.03 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $44.48 and a 12-month 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. The company has a market capitalization of $44.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $60.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.99.

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

Kroger declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. This represents a 18.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Seven 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.