The Kroger Co. $KR is Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s 7th Largest Position

Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 14.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 411,289 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 51,819 shares during the quarter. Kroger makes up approximately 3.1% of Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Liberty One Investment Management LLC owned 0.07% of Kroger worth $29,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Allstate Corp grew its stake in Kroger by 108.5% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 47,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,998,000 after buying an additional 24,976 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 868,529 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 10,178.7% during the fourth quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 507,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,706,000 after acquiring an additional 502,522 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its position in shares of Kroger by 30.6% in the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 894,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,946,000 after purchasing an additional 209,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,299,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, June 19th. Barclays set a $61.00 target price on Kroger and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Kroger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Key Kroger News

Here are the key news stories impacting Kroger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Kroger is continuing to hire ahead of the back-to-school season, with an event aimed at filling hundreds of jobs across stores in four states. That suggests ongoing labor demand and support for store operations. Back-to-school hiring event seeks to fill hundreds of jobs at Kroger stores in 4 states, including Indiana
• Neutral Sentiment: Kroger is also rolling out automation in some Columbus-area stores with a robot stocking program, which could improve efficiency over time but is not an immediate earnings catalyst. Columbus area Kroger stores launch robot program for stocking items
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple recalls of eggs and fruit purée pouches sold at Kroger stores are creating unwanted attention around food safety and could pressure customer trust and short-term sales. The recalled items were linked to potential salmonella or plastic contamination concerns. Here’s Why Kroger (KR) Fell More Than Broader Market
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment across grocery stocks weakened after Albertsons cut its guidance and warned about softer consumer demand, reinforcing concerns that shoppers are pulling back on grocery spending and that margins may stay under pressure for Kroger as well. Kroger, Dollar Tree, and Grocery Outlet Shares Are Falling, What You Need To Know

Kroger Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of KR opened at $55.70 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $54.15 and a 12-month high of $76.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $61.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.45.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $46.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.59 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 44.33% and a net margin of 0.71%.Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.49 EPS. Kroger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.100-5.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 5.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Saturday, August 15th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.35%.

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.