Kroger (KR) ended the recent trading session at $71.39, demonstrating a -1.15% change from the preceding day's closing price. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.01% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.32%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.05%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the supermarket chain had gained 10.23% outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 3.27% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.37%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Kroger in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $0.99, indicating a 6.45% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $34.07 billion, up 0.47% from the year-ago period.
KR's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.76 per share and revenue of $148.7 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +6.49% and +1.07%, respectively.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Kroger. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the business outlook.
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, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.37% upward. Currently, Kroger is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Kroger has a Forward P/E ratio of 15.17 right now. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 15.32 of its industry.
We can additionally observe that KR currently boasts a PEG ratio of 2.3. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The average PEG ratio for the Retail - Supermarkets industry stood at 1.87 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 70, positioning it in the top 29% of all 250+ industries.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.
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The Kroger Co. (KR): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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