Telsey Advisory Group Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Kroger (NYSE:KR)

Kroger (NYSE:KR)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Telsey Advisory Group in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $70.00 target price on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 13.21% from the company’s current price. Telsey Advisory Group also issued estimates for Kroger’s Q1 2026 earnings at $1.59 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.09 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $1.15 EPS.

KR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.79.

Kroger Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:KR opened at $61.83 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $58.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.31. Kroger has a 52 week low of $44.48 and a 52 week high of $63.59. The company has a market capitalization of $44.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Kroger will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $784,715.40. This represents a 32.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 202,370 shares of company stock valued at $12,530,170. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mendel Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 0.6% during the third quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 31,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 16,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $826,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 3.2% in the third quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.9% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 11,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Finally, M3 Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 5.6% during the third quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Company Profile

The Kroger Co operates as a food and drug retailer in the United States. The company operates combination food and drug stores, multi-department stores, marketplace stores, and price impact warehouses. Its combination food and drug stores offer natural food and organic sections, pharmacies, general merchandise, pet centers, fresh seafood, and organic produce; and multi-department stores provide apparel, home fashion and furnishings, outdoor living, electronics, automotive products, and toys.