Invesco LLC Increases Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Invesco LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,310 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 459 shares during the quarter. Invesco LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 11,570.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,417,000 after buying an additional 2,706,398 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Kroger by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in Kroger by 110.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,876,397 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its position in Kroger by 163.1% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,382,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,219,000 after purchasing an additional 857,008 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 569.6% in 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 and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at $6,965,563.32. This represents a 18.26 % 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 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $61.01. The stock had a trading volume of 234,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,018,512. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $60.26 and its 200 day moving average is $56.96. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $44.48 and a twelve month high of $63.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.16, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The business 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 was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America boosted 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. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price target on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.