The Kroger Co. $KR Shares Acquired by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 352,883 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,100 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Kroger were worth $22,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KR. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 61.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 33,367,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,249,307,000 after acquiring an additional 12,652,261 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $470,561,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 299.6% in the 2nd 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. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 95.6% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 2,434,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,638,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190,127 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,991,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010,457 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Kroger

Here are the key news stories impacting Kroger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Kroger is promoting its new limited-time “All-American Ice Cream Collection” and giving away 100,000 free pints for the summer solstice, a marketing push that could lift traffic and reinforce customer engagement. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports noted new or upcoming Kroger Marketplace openings and development progress in Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia, signaling continued store expansion and local market investment. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several lifestyle and local-news pieces highlighted the ice cream giveaway and store openings, but these are largely promotional updates rather than material financial catalysts. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Kroger agreed to a $2.5 million DOJ settlement over alleged Clean Air Act emissions violations, which adds a legal and compliance overhang even if the dollar amount is relatively small. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: A report suggesting Kroger may lose more executives could raise concerns about management turnover and continuity. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 price target on Kroger and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday. Erste Group Bank cut Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.73.

Kroger Stock Up 2.2%

KR opened at $63.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.63. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $58.60 and a 12 month high of $76.58.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.08. Kroger had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 0.69%.The company had revenue of $34.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 91.50%.

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.