Bank of Nova Scotia Grows Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 82.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 170,639 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 77,361 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Kroger were worth $10,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Canopy Partners LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 2,605.7% during the 4th quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 103,113 shares of the company's stock worth $6,305,000 after purchasing an additional 99,302 shares in the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Kroger by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 61,520 shares of the company's stock worth $3,762,000 after buying an additional 1,151 shares during the period. Ranmore Fund Management Ltd bought a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $9,539,000. Polymer Capital Management US LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $332,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 298,774 shares of the company's stock worth $18,133,000 after acquiring an additional 11,741 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Melius Research cut Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Melius lowered Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.50.

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Kroger Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE:KR traded up $1.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $69.45. The stock had a trading volume of 1,721,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,368,029. 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 stock has a market cap of $45.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The business's 50 day moving average is $65.82 and its 200 day moving average is $61.51. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $71.93.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger's payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 127,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,870,057.28. This represents a 19.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total transaction of $86,723.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $806,523.90. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 258,785 shares of company stock valued at $17,476,866. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.