Kroger Gains as Investors Focus on Earnings Beat and Stable Profit Outlook

The Kroger Co. (KR) is up 3.9% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The move appears tied mainly to a favorable reaction to Kroger’s latest quarterly results, which came in ahead of expectations on earnings and revenue while keeping full-year adjusted EPS guidance intact. Investors also seem to be responding to management’s comments about cost savings, improving pharmacy margins, better e-commerce profitability, and an upcoming investor update that could sharpen the long-term story.

Details:

Kroger’s second-quarter adjusted earnings were $1.09 per share on sales of $34.621 billion, both ahead of consensus estimates.

The company reaffirmed fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $5.10 to $5.30, signaling confidence in profit delivery even as the sales outlook was trimmed.

Management highlighted expected second-half support from cost savings, stronger pharmacy margins, improving e-commerce profitability, and growth in retail media.

Kroger has scheduled an investor day for October 20, which may be adding optimism that management will outline further operational and capital-allocation plans.

Sources:

Kroger Investor Relations, SEC, Investing.com

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$KR Insider Trading Activity

$KR insiders have traded $KR stock on the open market 4 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 4 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $KR stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

MARY ELLEN ADCOCK (Executive Vice President) has made 0 purchases and 3 sales selling 72,901 shares for an estimated $4,425,332.
YAEL COSSET (Executive Vice President) sold 30,000 shares for an estimated $1,764,000

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard. You can access data on insider stock transactions through the Quiver Quantitative API insider transaction endpoint.

$KR Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 649 institutional investors add shares of $KR stock to their portfolio, and 637 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

GQG PARTNERS LLC removed 12,702,807 shares (-99.7%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $705,386,872
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC removed 11,000,000 shares (-22.0%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $610,830,000
WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT GROUP LLP removed 6,549,346 shares (-27.9%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $363,685,183
SIXTH STREET PARTNERS MANAGEMENT COMPANY, L.P. added 4,843,158 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $268,940,563
MORGAN STANLEY removed 3,162,701 shares (-25.2%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $175,624,786
PACER ADVISORS, INC. added 3,056,681 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $169,737,495
FMR LLC added 2,758,629 shares (+19.9%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $153,186,668

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard. You can access data on hedge funds moves and 13F filings through the Quiver Quantitative API 13F endpoint.

$KR Congressional Stock Trading

Members of Congress have traded $KR stock 3 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 3 have been purchases and 0 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $KR stock by members of Congress over the last 6 months:

REPRESENTATIVE DAVID TAYLOR has traded it 3 times. They made 3 purchases worth up to $45,000 on 07/24, 06/05 and 0 sales.

To track congressional stock trading, check out Quiver Quantitative's congressional trading dashboard. You can access data on congressional stock trades through the Quiver Quantitative API Congress trades endpoint.

$KR Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $KR recently. We have seen 8 analysts offer price targets for $KR in the last 6 months, with a median target of $68.5.

Here are some recent targets:

Michael Montani from Evercore ISI Group set a target price of $78.0 on 07/07/2026
John Heinbockel from Guggenheim set a target price of $71.0 on 07/02/2026
Paul Lejuez from Citigroup set a target price of $61.0 on 06/23/2026
Seth Sigman from Barclays set a target price of $61.0 on 06/22/2026
Simeon Gutman from Morgan Stanley set a target price of $67.0 on 06/22/2026
Michael Lasser from UBS set a target price of $63.0 on 06/22/2026
Joseph Feldman from Telsey Advisory Group set a target price of $78.0 on 06/22/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.