Flputnam Investment Management Co. Trims Stake in The Kroger Co. $KR

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lessened its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 65.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,284 shares of the company’s stock after selling 151,907 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $5,412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 154.8% in the third quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 110,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,416,000 after purchasing an additional 66,834 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 671.1% in the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 29,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,993,000 after buying an additional 26,086 shares during the period. Financial Enhancement Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 9.3% in the third quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 92,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,281,000 after buying an additional 7,879 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 9,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 1,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisbourg Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 3,364.7% during the 3rd quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. now owns 2,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,000 after acquiring an additional 2,860 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Kroger News

Here are the key news stories impacting Kroger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New digital partnership updates have shifted the market narrative toward improved long-term growth and digital execution, which could boost e-commerce, loyalty and margins if partnerships translate to higher penetration or operating leverage. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Kroger celebrated a grand re-opening at its Airport Road location — a reminder of store-level investments and local traffic restoration that can support same-store sales in that market. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerages’ consensus recommendation remains “Hold,” signaling analysts see limited near-term catalyst or valuation upside despite Kroger’s initiatives — this tempers buying pressure until guidance or execution changes. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The town of Groveland is seeking over $1.4M from Kroger for an alleged contract breach — a modest direct financial exposure but a near-term legal overhang that can weigh on sentiment and add legal costs. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: A fatal shooting outside a Westland Kroger store (victim: Salvation Army bell ringer) has attracted multiple local reports — this creates short-term reputational risk, potential temporary store disruption and community-relations scrutiny that could affect traffic at impacted locations. Article Title Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Roth Capital upgraded Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 price target on shares of Kroger and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Evercore ISI set a $77.00 price target on shares of Kroger and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Argus set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Roth Mkm upgraded shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.13.

Kroger Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE:KR opened at $62.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $58.12 and a 1-year high of $74.90. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.60 and a 200 day moving average of $67.84. The firm has a market cap of $39.53 billion, a PE ratio of 57.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.58.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. Kroger had a net margin of 0.54% and a return on equity of 38.06%. The business had revenue of $33.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.750-4.800 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.