International Assets Investment Management LLC Decreases Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

International Assets Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 97.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,180 shares of the company’s stock after selling 438,018 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised 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 worth $249,717,000 after purchasing an additional 148,221 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Kroger by 1.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 53,006 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Kroger by 1.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,697,000 after acquiring an additional 36,083 shares in the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the second quarter worth about $10,336,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth about $566,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’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 value of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Stock Up 0.6 %

KR stock opened at $59.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.21. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $44.48 and a 12 month high of $63.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.87 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 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, 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 for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.93.

About Kroger

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.