Telsey Advisory Group Weighs in on Kroger FY2025 Earnings

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) – Equities researchers at Telsey Advisory Group raised their FY2025 EPS estimates for Kroger in a research note issued to investors on Monday, March 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group analyst J. Feldman now expects that the company will earn $4.47 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $4.45. Telsey Advisory Group has a “Outperform” rating and a $73.00 price objective 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 Q4 2025 earnings at $1.11 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.21 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $4.81 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $5.12 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

Kroger Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $62.52 on Thursday. Kroger has a 12-month low of $49.04 and a 12-month high of $66.26. The stock has a market cap of $45.24 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50-day moving average of $62.16 and a 200 day moving average of $58.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.86%.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KR. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $320,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $120,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $49,760,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Kroger by 239.0% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 50,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,063,000 after purchasing an additional 35,312 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.