Banco Santander S.A. Makes New $20.94 Million Investment in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 365,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,941,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Kroger by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,562,000 after purchasing an additional 723,771 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Kroger by 13.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,456,000 after acquiring an additional 917,923 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Kroger by 96.6% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643,811 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 8.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,279,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,543,000 after purchasing an additional 407,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Kroger by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,610,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,210,000 after purchasing an additional 11,541 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction of $386,247.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $784,715.40. This trade represents a 32.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value of $167,265.70. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. This trade represents a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $57.54 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $41.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $42.97 and a 52 week high of $60.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $56.75 and its 200 day moving average is $54.17.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on KR. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.09.

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.