Meyer Handelman Co. Grows Position in The Kroger Co. $KR

Meyer Handelman Co. increased its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 139,481 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,213 shares during the quarter. Meyer Handelman Co.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $8,715,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Kroger by 61.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 33,367,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,249,307,000 after acquiring an additional 12,652,261 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 66.6% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,255,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,245,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100,444 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 299.6% in the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 2,420,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,622,000 after acquiring an additional 1,814,721 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 95.6% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 51.0% during the third quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,991,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010,457 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore set a $77.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Kroger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Kroger from $73.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 target price (down from $74.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, December 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.56.

Kroger News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Kroger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 2026 results showed meaningful profit and cash-flow improvement: operating profit and EPS rose sharply year-over-year and cash from operations jumped, supporting better profitability despite modest revenue growth. This strengthens Kroger’s earnings quality and liquidity profile. Q4 2026 Earnings Summary
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street and the sell-side remain constructive overall (consensus ~“Moderate Buy,” several Outperform ratings and mixed but mostly upbeat price targets), which supports demand for the stock into guidance windows. Analyst Recommendation Summary
• Positive Sentiment: Near-term consumer promotions (Easter/spring discounts and gas-related offers) and local expansion plans can help traffic and basket sizes during a seasonal period. These merchandising initiatives are supportive for same-store trends. Easter Promotions
• Neutral Sentiment: Targeted store closures — Kroger has officially closed Houston/Spring locations and is trimming several underperforming sites (including some California stores) as part of network rationalization; this reduces costs but also shrinks sales footprint. Houston/Spring Closures Industry Store Closures Context
• Negative Sentiment: The EEOC has filed suit alleging Kroger failed to accommodate and terminated an employee with a disability at a Houston-area store — this raises legal, remediation and reputational risk in the near term. EEOC Allegations (Yahoo) EEOC Lawsuit (Houston Chronicle)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple customer complaints and local incident reports (rotten produce, criticism of Kroger-brand meat, and a separate alleged discriminatory store ban) are pressuring brand perception and could affect local traffic if issues spread. Produce Complaints Meat Complaints Alleged Discriminatory Ban

Kroger Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of KR stock opened at $72.31 on Wednesday. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $58.60 and a 12 month high of $76.58. The stock has a market cap of $45.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.42.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $34.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly 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, research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 91.50%.

Kroger Company 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.