Banco Santander S.A. Buys New Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 365,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,941,000. Banco Santander S.A. owned about 0.05% of Kroger as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mendel Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 31,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 16,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $826,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC grew its holdings in Kroger by 1.2% in the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 17,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $975,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 3.2% in the third quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 1.9% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 11,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Melius Research started coverage on Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.09.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total transaction of $167,730.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. This trade represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. This represents a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of KR stock opened at $57.54 on Thursday. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.97 and a twelve month high of $60.35. The company has a market capitalization 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $56.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.32 dividend. 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 (DPR) is 33.51%.

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.