Telsey Advisory Group Reduces Earnings Estimates for Kroger

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) – Analysts at Telsey Advisory Group reduced their Q1 2026 earnings estimates for shares of Kroger in a note issued to investors on Thursday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group analyst J. Feldman now expects that the company will earn $1.44 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.56. Telsey Advisory Group has a “Outperform” rating and a $73.00 price objective 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 Q4 2026 earnings at $1.25 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $5.14 EPS.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.88.

Kroger Price Performance

KR opened at $66.56 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market cap of $48.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $62.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.25. Kroger has a 1 year low of $49.04 and a 1 year high of $68.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 34.88%.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,486,131.04. The trade was a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 292,813 shares of company stock valued at $19,131,375 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KR. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $320,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $612,000 after buying an additional 804 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $120,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,760,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

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.