The Kroger Co. $KR Shares Bought by Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its Kroger stake by 30.6% in Q4 to 894,217 shares (about $55.95M), and institutional investors now own roughly 80.93% of the company.
• Kroger reported Q results that beat EPS estimates ($1.28 vs. $1.20) while revenue of $34.73B lagged expectations, and it set FY2026 guidance of $5.10–$5.30 EPS (analysts average 5.24).
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 (annual $1.40, yield 2.1%, DPR 91.5%), and faces mixed operational news—digital initiatives like Online Deal Days support growth while recent store-count and executive shakeups create execution and headline risk.

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 30.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 894,217 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 209,264 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.14% of Kroger worth $55,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Kroger by 61.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 33,367,551 shares of the company's stock worth $2,249,307,000 after buying an additional 12,652,261 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Kroger by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,948,112 shares of the company's stock worth $2,153,622,000 after purchasing an additional 386,503 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Kroger by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,327,182 shares of the company's stock worth $426,515,000 after purchasing an additional 865,559 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Kroger by 66.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,255,084 shares of the company's stock worth $354,245,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Kroger by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,204,987 shares of the company's stock worth $325,728,000 after purchasing an additional 524,768 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Kroger

Here are the key news stories impacting Kroger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Kroger highlights customer demand for Pickup & Delivery and launched an Online Deal Days promotion (Apr. 22–May 5) to drive digital traffic and basket growth; this supports sales and margin leverage from higher-margin convenience services. Kroger Dishes on How Customers Love to Shop Online Just in Time for Online Deal Days
• Positive Sentiment: Harris Teeter associates (a Kroger banner) ran volunteer activities across seven markets for National Volunteer Week — a community-engagement story that supports brand goodwill and local customer relationships. Harris Teeter Associates Volunteer Across Seven Markets for National Volunteer Week
• Positive Sentiment: Kroger earned a Platinum rating from the Burning Glass Institute and the Schultz Family Foundation for career growth and internal mobility — a positive for retention, hiring efficiency and long-term labor cost dynamics. Kroger Recognized for Career Growth and Opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry news: Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream hired a former Ben & Jerry’s chief as CEO — notable in the specialty ice cream space but unlikely to materially affect Kroger’s overall grocery business near-term. Jeni’s scoops up former Ben & Jerry’s chief as CEO
• Neutral Sentiment: Unrelated tech/security product launch (Codenotary) — not relevant to Kroger’s fundamentals. Codenotary Accelerates Enterprise Adoption, Expands Into AI Agent Security and Autonomous Remediation
• Negative Sentiment: Local & investigative reports highlight Kroger’s biggest recent shakeup in store count and executive ranks in over a decade — store closures and leadership turnover raise concerns about execution, earnings cadence and cost of repositioning. Kroger made biggest shakeup in more than a decade in store count, executive officers over past year
• Negative Sentiment: A false bomb threat forced an evacuation at a Kroger store in Fountain City — a localized safety incident that can dent near-term traffic and creates headline risk. Man charged after false bomb threat forces Kroger evacuation in Fountain City

Kroger Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $67.98 on Thursday. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $58.60 and a 1 year high of $76.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The business's 50 day moving average price is $70.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.80.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.08. Kroger had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 0.69%.The firm had revenue of $34.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The business's revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Kroger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.100-5.300 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays restated a "positive" rating on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $74.56.

Kroger Profile

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.

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