BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Raises Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,669,819 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 83,258 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned 0.23% of Kroger worth $95,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 1.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 36,083 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the second quarter valued at approximately $10,336,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the second quarter worth $6,524,000. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its position in Kroger by 82.2% in the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 132,857 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 59,949 shares during the period. Finally, Wright Investors Service Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 63.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 38,934 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,231,000 after purchasing an additional 15,048 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a "hold" rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $784,715.40. The trade was a 32.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 have sold 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $57.61 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.87. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $42.54 and a one year high of $60.35. The company has a market cap of $41.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Kroger's payout ratio 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.

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