Q1 EPS Estimates for Kroger Boosted by Telsey Advisory Group

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) – Stock analysts at Telsey Advisory Group lifted their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for Kroger in a research report issued on Monday, December 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group analyst J. Feldman now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $1.59 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.51. Telsey Advisory Group has a “Outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target 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.

KR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Kroger from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $59.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.79.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE KR opened at $61.83 on Tuesday. Kroger has a 12-month low of $44.48 and a 12-month high of $63.59. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $44.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.38.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. Kroger’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % 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, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 202,370 shares of company stock valued at $12,530,170 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Kroger by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $914,795,000 after acquiring an additional 126,303 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Kroger by 5.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,562,000 after buying an additional 723,771 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 13.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,456,000 after purchasing an additional 917,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 96.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,689,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643,811 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.