Yahoo Finance Kroger (KR) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know
Kroger (KR) closed at $49.98 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.68% move from the prior day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.02%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.42%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 2.7%.
Coming into today, shares of the supermarket chain had gained 3.59% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector gained 1.85%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.07%.
Investors will be hoping for strength from Kroger as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.41, down 2.76% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $45.38 billion, up 1.74% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.51 per share and revenue of $152.03 billion. These totals would mark changes of +6.62% and +2.54%, respectively, from last year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Kroger. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. Kroger is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Kroger has a Forward P/E ratio of 11 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 13.18, which means Kroger is trading at a discount to the group.
Investors should also note that KR has a PEG ratio of 1.84 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Retail - Supermarkets stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.86 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 24, putting it in the top 10% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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The Kroger Co. (KR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
