Nordea Investment Management AB Has $249.72 Million Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,052,534 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 148,221 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 0.56% of Kroger worth $249,717,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the second quarter worth $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Kroger by 218.8% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Kroger during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at $8,444,361.80. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

KR stock traded down $1.51 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $59.11. The company had a trading volume of 6,356,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,937,203. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.48. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $59.99 and a 200 day moving average of $56.11. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.48 and a fifty-two week high of $63.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kroger from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 30th. Finally, Melius Research began coverage on Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a "hold" rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $65.93.

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.