BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Reduces Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lowered its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 30.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,316,698 shares of the company’s stock after selling 566,168 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $75,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Kroger by 255.6% in the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Kroger by 101.6% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, June 17th. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at $4,313,681.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,313,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at $214,889.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kroger Stock Up 2.2 %

Kroger stock traded up $1.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,198,115 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,250,520. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.10 and a 52-week high of $58.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.70, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.45.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 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 company had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.86 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $1.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.34%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.59%.

Kroger Company 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.