Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 37,764 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 287,064 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 37,764 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $17,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KR. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 11,570.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,417,000 after buying an additional 2,706,398 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Kroger by 96.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643,811 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Kroger by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in Kroger by 110.5% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,574,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,876,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 698.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,878,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,307 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kroger Price Performance

Kroger stock opened at $58.78 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.55, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $60.18 and a 200-day moving average of $56.72. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $44.48 and a 1 year high of $63.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. 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 company earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KR. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.14.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 company’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 transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. 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. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.