The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Purchased by BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 20.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,586,561 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 269,863 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned about 0.22% of Kroger worth $79,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company's stock worth $1,087,276,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,427 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,453,142 shares of the company's stock valued at $660,653,000 after buying an additional 214,852 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,592,371 shares of the company's stock valued at $575,546,000 after buying an additional 503,839 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $229,863,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Kroger by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,610,646 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,210,000 after acquiring an additional 11,541 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised Kroger from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Kroger to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.64.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $53.21. The company had a trading volume of 4,398,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,963,813. The business has a 50 day moving average of $52.72 and a 200-day moving average of $53.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.86. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $58.34. The company has a market cap of $38.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.45.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The firm had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. The business's revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Kroger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. Kroger's dividend payout ratio is 43.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding KR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.