Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Sells 268,284 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. trimmed its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,026,727 shares of the company’s stock after selling 268,284 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $123,934,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Kroger by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after purchasing an additional 148,221 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Kroger by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,248,000 after purchasing an additional 53,006 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,697,000 after acquiring an additional 36,083 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the third quarter worth $566,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on KR shares. UBS Group raised their price target on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim started coverage on Kroger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.80.

Kroger Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE KR opened at $60.46 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.91. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $44.48 and a twelve month high of $63.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The company has a market capitalization of $43.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99, a PEG ratio of 2.76 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.