What is Roth Capital’s Forecast for Kroger Q1 Earnings?

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) – Investment analysts at Roth Capital reduced their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Kroger in a report released on Thursday, March 6th. Roth Capital analyst W. Kirk now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $1.47 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $1.49. The consensus estimate for Kroger’s current full-year earnings is $4.44 per share. Roth Capital also issued estimates for Kroger’s Q2 2026 earnings at $0.97 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.05 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.21 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.72 EPS.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on KR. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.88.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $66.56 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $62.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.17 billion, a PE ratio of 17.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. Kroger has a twelve month low of $49.04 and a twelve month high of $68.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 14.3% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 4.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 884,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,688,000 after purchasing an additional 40,914 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in Kroger by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 8,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290 shares during the period. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Kroger by 31.4% in the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,486,131.04. This trade represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 292,813 shares of company stock valued at $19,131,375. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

About Kroger

The Kroger Co operates as a food and drug retailer in the United States. The company operates combination food and drug stores, multi-department stores, marketplace stores, and price impact warehouses. Its combination food and drug stores offer natural food and organic sections, pharmacies, general merchandise, pet centers, fresh seafood, and organic produce; and multi-department stores provide apparel, home fashion and furnishings, outdoor living, electronics, automotive products, and toys.