Q1 EPS Estimates for Kroger Boosted by Telsey Advisory Group

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) – Equities research analysts at Telsey Advisory Group lifted their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for shares of Kroger in a report issued on Monday, December 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group analyst J. Feldman now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $1.59 for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $1.51. Telsey Advisory Group currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $70.00 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 Q2 2026 earnings at $1.09 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $1.15 EPS.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on KR. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Kroger from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Guggenheim initiated coverage on Kroger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.79.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $60.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $44.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $58.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.24.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share.

Kroger declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $784,715.40. The trade was a 32.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KR. Mendel Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 0.6% in the third quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 31,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 16,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $826,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 3.2% during the third quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 1.9% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 11,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $672,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M3 Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 5.6% in the third quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kroger

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.