Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC Acquires New Shares in The Kroger Co. $KR

Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC acquired a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 15,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,057,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Kroger by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 56,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,807,000 after acquiring an additional 16,270 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the second quarter valued at about $201,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Kroger by 119.2% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 25,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,815,000 after purchasing an additional 13,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 65,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,696,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Kroger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — Kroger reported $1.28 EPS vs. $1.20 consensus and highlighted strong eCommerce sales and ROE, giving investors an upside surprise to near-term earnings visibility. Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Large buyback authorization — Management cleared a $7.5B repurchase program (including a $5B accelerated buyback) and the board approved an additional $2B, a clear capital-return signal that supports share price. PR Newswire
• Positive Sentiment: eCommerce repositioning — Kroger completed an eCommerce strategic review, forecasting ~$400M in operating-profit improvement in 2026 and pointing to a path to eCommerce profitability alongside ~$16B in eCommerce sales. PR Newswire
• Neutral Sentiment: GAAP vs. adjusted results — Fiscal 2025 included a $2.5B impairment that produced a GAAP loss; adjusted metrics and free cash flow were stronger, so performance needs to be viewed through both lenses. PR Newswire
• Neutral Sentiment: Product innovation — Kroger is expanding private‑label fresh and frozen meal offerings, a modest revenue/margin lever but not an immediate game-changer. Grocery Dive
• Negative Sentiment: Labor and legal risks — Kroger faces two class-action suits alleging e‑commerce manager misclassification and a public clash with the Teamsters that could raise labor costs or disruption risk. Grocery Dive
• Negative Sentiment: Recall and food-safety headlines — Frozen-food recalls affecting Kroger/Trader Joe’s product lines and a glass contamination recall are reputational and operational headwinds that can dent traffic or margins. Yahoo
• Negative Sentiment: Store closures and layoffs — Additional location exits and headcount reductions signal portfolio pruning that may boost near-term cost control but also reflect underlying market/operational challenges. TheStreet

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $67.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Barclays reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Kroger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective (down from $74.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.93.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR opened at $67.97 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $58.60 and a twelve month high of $74.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $64.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.85. The firm has a market cap of $43.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.62.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.08. Kroger had a return on equity of 38.06% and a net margin of 0.54%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 129.63%.

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.