Telsey Advisory Group Predicts Higher Earnings for Kroger

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) – Research analysts at Telsey Advisory Group upped their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for Kroger in a research note issued on Monday, March 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group analyst J. Feldman now anticipates that the company will earn $4.47 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $4.45. Telsey Advisory Group currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $73.00 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 Q4 2025 earnings at $1.11 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.21 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $4.81 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $5.12 EPS.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%.

KR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

Kroger Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:KR opened at $63.89 on Thursday. Kroger has a 52 week low of $49.04 and a 52 week high of $66.26. The stock has a market cap of $46.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.90, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $62.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.85. 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its board has authorized 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 purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 169,559 shares of company stock worth $10,587,476 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of KR. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in Kroger by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 18,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 23,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.