Wealthfront Advisers LLC Purchases 43,888 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

Key Points

• Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its Kroger stake by 26% in Q1, buying 43,888 more shares and bringing its total to 212,892 shares worth about $15.4 million.
• Kroger is seeing mixed operational signals: it is expanding premium offerings with 147 new wine shops and updating its rewards program, but reports also point to weaker foot traffic and a scrapped Florida expansion.
• Wall Street remains generally constructive on the stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus and a $72 average price target, while Kroger also recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.39 per share.

Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 26.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 212,892 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 43,888 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in Kroger were worth $15,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $470,561,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Kroger by 299.6% during the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 2,420,495 shares of the company's stock valued at $173,622,000 after purchasing an additional 1,814,721 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its holdings in Kroger by 48.6% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 4,445,479 shares of the company's stock valued at $277,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,966 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 13,398,072 shares of the company's stock valued at $837,113,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360,946 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 95.6% in the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 2,434,663 shares of the company's stock valued at $174,638,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,127 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Key Kroger News

Here are the key news stories impacting Kroger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Kroger is expanding its premium food and beverage strategy, including 147 new wine shops nationwide, which could support higher-margin sales and improve customer spending mix. Kroger bets on luxury wines with 147 new wine shops nationwide
• Positive Sentiment: Kroger also made a major change to its rewards program that is intended to help shoppers, which may support loyalty and repeat visits. Kroger makes a major change to shopping points rewards
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts questioned whether KR is trading near fair value, suggesting recent weakness has left the stock looking more aligned with fundamentals than clearly undervalued. Is Kroger (KR) Stock Trading Around Fair Value Today?
• Negative Sentiment: One report said Kroger foot traffic has slumped for a third straight month, raising concerns about same-store sales momentum. Kroger foot traffic slumps, analyst says, continuing a three-month trend
• Negative Sentiment: Another report said Kroger is scrapping its Florida expansion amid merger-related cuts, which may signal slower growth plans or integration tradeoffs. Kroger scraps Florida expansion amid merger, cuts, report says

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $71.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Kroger from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered Kroger from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $78.00 price objective on Kroger and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Barclays set a $61.00 target price on Kroger and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $58.58 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.89 billion, a PE ratio of 34.46, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.44. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $54.15 and a 1 year high of $76.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.43. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $61.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.63.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $46.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.59 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 44.33% and a net margin of 0.71%.The firm's revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.49 EPS. Kroger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.100-5.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 5.21 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, August 15th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. This is a positive change from Kroger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Kroger's payout ratio is currently 82.35%.

About Kroger

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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