10 Best Defensive Dividend Stocks For 2025

7. The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 68

Dividend Yield as of November 6: 2.21%

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) is one of the best dividend stocks to buy. On November 4, Kroger and Instacart disclosed that they have extended their partnership, with the latter being Kroger’s main end-to-end delivery partner for Kroger.com and the company’s mobile app.

The two companies will offer AI-based shopping solutions to consumers. Kroger will be one of the first companies to provide Instacart’s AI Assistant through the iOS version of its app. The AI Assistant, known as Cart Assistant, allows users to look up meal ideas, prepare shopping baskets, and plan meals on an interactive platform.

The delivery times will be shortened to around 30 minutes for more clients under the Express Delivery option on Kroger’s website. Instacart presently offers delivery from around 2700 Kroger stores under 20-plus banners across the United States.

The Instacart and Kroger partnership commenced back in 2017, and together they have initiated delivery services throughout the country, Express Delivery, and AI-based Caper Carts.

Separately, Kroger also announced that it is expanding its partnership agreement with Uber on October 30. The companies will combine their resources to provide grocery and food delivery solutions to customers. At the start of 2026, customers will be able to tap into the complete range of Kroger’s product offerings from over 2600 outlets via the Uber Eats app. Kroger customers can also access the restaurants listed on Uber Eats within the Kroger app, which means they can essentially add groceries and restaurant orders in a single place. Both businesses will also offer loyalty benefits to their respective customers.