Sanders Morris Harris LLC Purchases 15,000 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

Sanders Morris Harris LLC acquired a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $879,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Krilogy Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $375,000. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth $250,000. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the third quarter valued at about $47,000. Courier Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 94.2% during the third quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 46,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,708,000 after acquiring an additional 22,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Madson Wealth Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the topic of several research reports. BNP Paribas Exane raised Kroger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on Kroger from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 14th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, June 19th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price target (down from $61.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.82.

Key Stories Impacting Kroger

Here are the key news stories impacting Kroger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Earnings exceeded expectations: Kroger reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.09 per share on $34.621 billion in sales, ahead of analyst estimates. Management maintained fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $5.10–$5.30, supporting confidence in the company’s profit outlook. Kroger Gains as Investors Focus on Earnings Beat and Stable Profit Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Cost-cutting and AI strategy: Kroger plans to eliminate approximately 3,000 corporate positions over three years, or roughly 37% of its corporate workforce, while expanding artificial intelligence. The company says savings could support lower prices and investments in stores, pharmacy margins, e-commerce profitability and retail media. Kroger AI corporate job cuts
• Positive Sentiment: Near-term catalysts: Kroger’s October 20 investor day could provide additional details on its turnaround, cost savings and capital-allocation plans, potentially improving the long-term investment narrative. Analysts’ reported median price target is $68.50, above the current trading level.
• Neutral Sentiment: Operational and customer changes: Reports say Kroger is removing a fuel discount from certain shoppers, while a Red Bull supply dispute has led to products being pulled from some Georgia stores. These developments could affect customer sentiment but appear limited in their direct financial impact. Kroger gas discount changes
• Negative Sentiment: Failed-merger litigation: Albertsons is seeking more than $9 billion from Kroger over the collapse of their proposed $24.6 billion merger. The legal claim creates uncertainty around potential damages and could weigh on valuation, although the outcome remains unresolved. Albertsons seeks billions from Kroger
• Negative Sentiment: Execution and sentiment risks: The scale of the layoffs may disrupt operations and employee morale, while meaningful savings depend on whether management reinvests them effectively. Reported insider selling and reduced positions by several large institutions add a secondary cautionary signal.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR stock opened at $62.99 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $58.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.59. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $54.15 and a 12 month high of $76.58. The company has a market capitalization of $37.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.36.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, September 11th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $34.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 49.90% and a net margin of 0.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. Kroger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.100-5.300 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Mary Adcock sold 72,901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $4,425,090.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 175,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,636,643.10. This represents a 29.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Profile

The Kroger Co is a U.S.-based food and consumer goods retailer headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1883 by Bernard Kroger, the company has grown into one of the largest supermarket operators in the United States.

Kroger operates supermarkets, multi-department stores, marketplace-format stores, pharmacies and fuel centers. Its stores sell groceries, fresh produce, meat, seafood, bakery and deli products, household essentials, health and beauty items, and general merchandise. The company also offers digital shopping, pickup and delivery services, loyalty programs, and a range of private-label products.

The company serves customers across numerous U.S.