Scotia Capital Inc. Invests $216,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Scotia Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. APG Asset Management N.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $21,649,000. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 82.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 170,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,435,000 after buying an additional 77,361 shares during the period. Canopy Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2,605.7% during the 4th quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 103,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,305,000 after acquiring an additional 99,302 shares in the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 61,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,762,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ranmore Fund Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at $9,539,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Melius downgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America raised their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.50.

Kroger Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE KR opened at $68.14 on Wednesday. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $49.04 and a twelve month high of $71.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market cap of $45.03 billion, a PE ratio of 18.03, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.88%.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total value of $86,723.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $806,523.90. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.44, for a total transaction of $2,083,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 127,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,870,057.28. This trade represents a 19.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 258,785 shares of company stock valued at $17,476,866 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.