KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys 99,600 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 25.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 494,325 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 99,600 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Kroger were worth $30,885,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. boosted its position in Kroger by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 7,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in Kroger by 219.4% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 196,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,259,000 after purchasing an additional 134,769 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in Kroger by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 894,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,946,000 after purchasing an additional 209,264 shares during the period. Optas LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 4,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares during the period. Finally, SageGuard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,163,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.56.

Key Stories Impacting Kroger

Here are the key news stories impacting Kroger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Kroger highlights customer demand for Pickup & Delivery and launched an Online Deal Days promotion (Apr. 22–May 5) to drive digital traffic and basket growth; this supports sales and margin leverage from higher-margin convenience services. Kroger Dishes on How Customers Love to Shop Online Just in Time for Online Deal Days
• Positive Sentiment: Harris Teeter associates (a Kroger banner) ran volunteer activities across seven markets for National Volunteer Week — a community-engagement story that supports brand goodwill and local customer relationships. Harris Teeter Associates Volunteer Across Seven Markets for National Volunteer Week
• Positive Sentiment: Kroger earned a Platinum rating from the Burning Glass Institute and the Schultz Family Foundation for career growth and internal mobility — a positive for retention, hiring efficiency and long-term labor cost dynamics. Kroger Recognized for Career Growth and Opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry news: Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream hired a former Ben & Jerry’s chief as CEO — notable in the specialty ice cream space but unlikely to materially affect Kroger’s overall grocery business near-term. Jeni’s scoops up former Ben & Jerry’s chief as CEO
• Neutral Sentiment: Unrelated tech/security product launch (Codenotary) — not relevant to Kroger’s fundamentals. Codenotary Accelerates Enterprise Adoption, Expands Into AI Agent Security and Autonomous Remediation
• Negative Sentiment: Local & investigative reports highlight Kroger’s biggest recent shakeup in store count and executive ranks in over a decade — store closures and leadership turnover raise concerns about execution, earnings cadence and cost of repositioning. Kroger made biggest shakeup in more than a decade in store count, executive officers over past year
• Negative Sentiment: A false bomb threat forced an evacuation at a Kroger store in Fountain City — a localized safety incident that can dent near-term traffic and creates headline risk. Man charged after false bomb threat forces Kroger evacuation in Fountain City

Kroger Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of KR stock opened at $67.98 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $41.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.55. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $58.60 and a one year high of $76.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $70.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $34.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.10 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 0.69%.Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. Kroger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.100-5.300 EPS. Analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.50%.

Kroger Profile

The Kroger Co (NYSE: KR) is one of the largest supermarket operators in the United States, offering a wide range of retail grocery and related services. Founded in Cincinnati in 1883 by Bernard Kroger, the company operates a portfolio of supermarket and multi-department store banners and provides customers with fresh foods, packaged groceries, deli and bakery items, meat and seafood, produce, and prepared foods. Kroger’s stores commonly include pharmacy services and fuel centers, positioning the company as a broad-based neighborhood retail destination for everyday needs.

In addition to traditional in-store retailing, Kroger manufactures and distributes a variety of private-label brands and operates its own food production and supply-chain facilities.