Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $45.71 Million Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 747,492 shares of the company’s stock after selling 64,687 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.10% of Kroger worth $45,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 3.8% in the 4th 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. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,113,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Kroger by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,248,000 after acquiring an additional 53,006 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the second quarter valued at approximately $10,336,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $58.68 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $44.48 and a 52 week high of $63.59. The company has a market capitalization of $42.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.