Retirement Systems of Alabama Cuts Stake in The Kroger Co. $KR

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 9.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 278,447 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,222 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Kroger were worth $18,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KR. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 6,840.0% in the 2nd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in Kroger in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in Kroger in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 10,425.0% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 421 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 87.8% in the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 445 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Kroger News

Here are the key news stories impacting Kroger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Kroger is investing in growth — a roughly $28.5 million project for its first new Michigan store in nearly a decade signals strategic expansion and long‑term capacity to drive sales. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Some Kroger locations in Greater Cincinnati have reopened after the historic snow event, restoring customer access and sales flow in that market. Reopenings should limit the duration of revenue disruption. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Kroger plans to close its Groveland distribution center in early 2026. Impact is mixed — potential cost savings or network optimization versus one‑time closure costs and operational disruption during transition. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Regional hour adjustments (Houston, North Texas and other markets) reflect cautious operations during severe weather; these preserve safety and can limit losses but also compress same‑store sales for the affected days. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Widespread early closures across the Columbus division (115 stores) and multiple markets (Cincinnati, central Ohio and others) during the winter storm are lowering traffic and same‑store sales for the period and may raise labor and logistics costs. This storm-driven disruption is the primary near‑term headwind pressuring the stock. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on KR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 target price (down from $78.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price target (down previously from $74.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $67.00 target price on Kroger and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.80.

Kroger Stock Down 0.8%

KR stock opened at $63.75 on Tuesday. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.60 and a fifty-two week high of $74.90. The company has a market capitalization of $40.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $63.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.27 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 38.06% and a net margin of 0.54%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.750-4.800 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger 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.