Engineers Gate Manager LP Grows Stock Position in The Kroger Co. $KR

Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 537.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 117,646 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 99,183 shares during the quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP’s holdings in Kroger were worth $6,533,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KR. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $71.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, June 19th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.31.

Trending Headlines about Kroger

Here are the key news stories impacting Kroger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Kroger reported second-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.09, above the approximately $1.05 analyst consensus and up from $1.04 a year earlier. Operating profit increased to $971 million, while adjusted eCommerce sales grew 20% and Kroger Precision Marketing profit rose 24%. Kroger Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results and Updates Guidance for 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Management reaffirmed fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $5.10–$5.30, signaling confidence that cost savings, pharmacy and fuel performance, eCommerce and margin management can offset sluggish sales. Kroger also repurchased $1 billion of stock during the quarter. Kroger gains as profit outlook holds despite softer sales guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually heavy call-option activity indicated that some traders were positioning for additional upside following the earnings release.
• Neutral Sentiment: Revenue rose 2% year over year to $34.62 billion but was slightly below estimates. Identical sales excluding fuel increased only 0.2%, reflecting cautious consumer spending and the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on pharmacy revenue. Kroger Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results and Updates Guidance for 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Kroger cut its fiscal-year identical-sales outlook excluding fuel to 0.2%–0.8%, down from 1%–2%. Executives cited inflation, intense grocery competition and strained household budgets, including elevated gasoline costs and reduced government food assistance. Kroger Cuts Sales View Due to Macro Challenges
• Negative Sentiment: A cyclospora outbreak reduced fresh-produce shopping during the quarter, while reports that Boar’s Head meats are disappearing from some stores could create additional deli-sales and customer-retention concerns. Cyclospora outbreak hammers Kroger sales as shoppers avoided produce

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE KR opened at $58.50 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $57.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.66. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $54.15 and a 52 week high of $76.58. The stock has a market cap of $35.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.43.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, September 11th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $34.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 44.33% and a net margin of 0.71%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. Kroger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.100-5.300 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 5.21 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.76%.

Kroger Profile

The Kroger Co (NYSE: KR) is one of the largest grocery retailers in the United States. Founded in Cincinnati in 1883 by Bernard Kroger, the company operates supermarkets, multi-department stores, pharmacies, convenience stores and fuel centers across the country.

Kroger sells a broad range of fresh foods, packaged groceries, household products, health and beauty items, prepared foods and general merchandise. Its private-label offerings include Simple Truth, Private Selection and Kroger brands.