Q1 EPS Estimates for Kroger Boosted by Telsey Advisory Group

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) – Investment analysts at Telsey Advisory Group lifted their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Kroger in a research note issued to investors on Monday, December 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group analyst J. Feldman now expects that the company will earn $1.59 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $1.51. Telsey Advisory Group currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Kroger’s current full-year earnings is $4.44 per share. Telsey Advisory Group also issued estimates for Kroger’s Q2 2026 earnings at $1.09 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $1.15 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on KR. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim began coverage on Kroger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.79.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR opened at $61.83 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48. Kroger has a twelve month low of $44.48 and a twelve month high of $63.59. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Kroger by 0.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,610,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,210,000 after purchasing an additional 11,541 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 55,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,749,000 after purchasing an additional 6,751 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter worth about $212,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 134,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,736,000 after acquiring an additional 14,163 shares during the period. Finally, Conning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 5,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $784,715.40. The trade was a 32.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. This trade represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 202,370 shares of company stock valued at $12,530,170 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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

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.