Fifth Third Bancorp Has $4.19 Million Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 61.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 68,529 shares of the company’s stock after selling 108,675 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Kroger were worth $4,191,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Kroger by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,717,000 after acquiring an additional 148,221 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings 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. lifted its position 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 valued at $124,697,000 after acquiring an additional 36,083 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth $566,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $58.68 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.83. 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 Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $44.48 and a 1 year high of $63.59. The firm has a market cap of $42.46 billion, a PE ratio of 15.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. Kroger’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.