In the latest close session, Kroger (KR) was up +2.69% at $61.11. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.16%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.17%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.26%.
Shares of the supermarket chain witnessed a loss of 5.82% over the previous month, trailing the performance of the Retail-Wholesale sector with its gain of 5.12%, and the S&P 500's gain of 1.89%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Kroger in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $1.2, reflecting a 5.26% increase from the same quarter last year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $35.19 billion, showing a 2.57% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.79 per share and revenue of $148.11 billion. These totals would mark changes of +7.16% and +0.67%, respectively, from last year.
It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Kroger. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. 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, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. Kroger currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
With respect to valuation, Kroger is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 12.43. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 15.08, so one might conclude that Kroger is trading at a discount comparatively.
One should further note that KR currently holds a PEG ratio of 1.67. 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 2.2.
The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 170, positioning it in the bottom 31% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained 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 ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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