Jacobs Equity LLC Invests $832,000 in The Kroger Co. $KR

Jacobs Equity LLC purchased a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $832,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,371,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Kroger by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 2,762,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,610,000 after buying an additional 61,853 shares in the last quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Kroger by 195.4% in the 4th quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 2,351 shares in the last quarter. Andrews Advisory Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $469,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 26,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,676,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Kroger from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 price target on shares of Kroger and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.67.

Kroger News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Kroger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue beat estimates and identical sales excluding fuel rose 1.0%, showing Kroger still has steady demand for groceries and essentials. Reuters: Kroger beats quarterly sales estimates
• Positive Sentiment: eCommerce grew 19% and became profitable, while the media segment also turned profitable, which supports longer-term growth. Yahoo Finance: Kroger Q1 2026 Earnings Call Highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Kroger reaffirmed full-year guidance, suggesting management still expects the business to stay on track despite a tougher consumer backdrop. Yahoo Finance: Kroger Delivers Revenue Beat While Reaffirming Full-Year Outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: New CEO Greg Foran emphasized store improvements and broader price investments, which could help traffic but require execution and time to show up in results. WSJ: Kroger’s New CEO Wants Better Stores and More of Them
• Negative Sentiment: EPS missed by a penny, and investors appear to be punishing the stock for even a small earnings miss in a low-growth retail environment. Zacks: Kroger Q1 Earnings Miss Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Margin pressure and rising operating costs are the main concern, especially as Kroger uses price cuts to defend market share. MSN: Kroger seeing costs outrun sales growth

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $56.57 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $56.32 and a 52 week high of $76.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $65.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.40. The company has a market capitalization of $34.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $46.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.59 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 0.69%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.49 earnings per share. Kroger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.100-5.30 EPS. Equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

About Kroger

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.