In the latest trading session, Kroger (KR) closed at $70.10, marking a +1.15% move from the previous day. The stock exceeded the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 0.37% for the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.74%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.03%.
Shares of the supermarket chain have depreciated by 1.32% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 2.03%, and the S&P 500's gain of 2.68%.
The upcoming earnings release of Kroger will be of great interest to investors. On that day, Kroger is projected to report earnings of $0.99 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 6.45%. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $34.07 billion, showing a 0.47% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $4.76 per share and a revenue of $148.7 billion, demonstrating changes of +6.49% and +1.07%, respectively, from the preceding year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Kroger should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.06% higher. Currently, Kroger is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
With respect to valuation, Kroger is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 14.56. This represents a discount compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 15.03.
We can additionally observe that KR currently boasts a PEG ratio of 2.21. 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. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Retail - Supermarkets industry held an average PEG ratio of 1.82.
The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 163, which puts it in the bottom 35% 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.
Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming 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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