Wealthfront Advisers LLC Grows Position in The Kroger Co. $KR

Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 26.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 212,892 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,888 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $15,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KR. Allstate Corp boosted its stake in Kroger by 108.5% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 47,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,998,000 after buying an additional 24,976 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,169,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,821,546,000 after purchasing an additional 868,529 shares during the period. Conning Inc. increased its holdings in Kroger by 10,178.7% in the 4th quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 507,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,706,000 after purchasing an additional 502,522 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Kroger by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,204,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,728,000 after purchasing an additional 524,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 209,264 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on KR. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, June 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $58.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Kroger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $58.58 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $61.83 and a 200-day moving average of $65.63. The firm has a market cap of $35.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.43. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $54.15 and a twelve month high of $76.58.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 18th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $46.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.59 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 44.33% and a net margin of 0.71%.The business’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.49 earnings per share. Kroger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.100-5.30 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 5.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Saturday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 82.35%.

More Kroger News

Here are the key news stories impacting Kroger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Kroger is expanding its premium food and beverage strategy, including 147 new wine shops nationwide, which could support higher-margin sales and improve customer spending mix. Kroger bets on luxury wines with 147 new wine shops nationwide
• Positive Sentiment: Kroger also made a major change to its rewards program that is intended to help shoppers, which may support loyalty and repeat visits. Kroger makes a major change to shopping points rewards
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts questioned whether KR is trading near fair value, suggesting recent weakness has left the stock looking more aligned with fundamentals than clearly undervalued. Is Kroger (KR) Stock Trading Around Fair Value Today?
• Negative Sentiment: One report said Kroger foot traffic has slumped for a third straight month, raising concerns about same-store sales momentum. Kroger foot traffic slumps, analyst says, continuing a three-month trend
• Negative Sentiment: Another report said Kroger is scrapping its Florida expansion amid merger-related cuts, which may signal slower growth plans or integration tradeoffs. Kroger scraps Florida expansion amid merger, cuts, report says

Kroger Company 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.