OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Invests $873,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 15,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $873,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 53.3% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the company's stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 3,212 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Kroger by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 43,099 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,462,000 after buying an additional 3,280 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Kroger in the first quarter valued at about $222,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Kroger by 18.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820,623 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,882,000 after buying an additional 129,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in Kroger by 2.4% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 159,546 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,115,000 after buying an additional 3,708 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $784,715.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was 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 $784,715.40. The trade was a 0.00 % 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 quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Melius Research initiated coverage on Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a "hold" rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.09.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR traded down $0.22 during trading on Thursday, reaching $59.36. The stock had a trading volume of 550,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,685,631. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $56.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.07. The stock has a market cap of $42.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $60.35.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. 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.