Nexus Investment Management ULC Has $2.94 Million Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Nexus Investment Management ULC lifted its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 48,115 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Kroger by 218.8% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.93.

Kroger Stock Performance

Kroger stock opened at $58.34 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $60.22 and a 200-day moving average of $56.53. 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 Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $44.48 and a 1 year high of $63.59. The company has a market capitalization of $42.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of Kroger 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

About Kroger

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.