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

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 352,883 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,100 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund owned 0.06% of Kroger worth $22,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 17,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,124,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 5,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 6,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $471,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 15,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $984,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut Kroger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Barclays reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, March 27th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.73.

Key Stories Impacting 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

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $63.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.63. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $58.60 and a 12-month high of $76.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

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