Kroger (KR) ended the recent trading session at $70, demonstrating a -1.89% swing from the preceding day's closing price. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.74% gain on the day. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.05%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 1.26%.
Shares of the supermarket chain witnessed a gain of 7.88% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Retail-Wholesale sector with its loss of 3.18% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.77%.
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 $1.44, indicating a 0.7% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $45.39 billion, up 0.28% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.74 per share and revenue of $149.11 billion. These totals would mark changes of +6.04% and +1.35%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Kroger. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's 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, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, there's been no change in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. 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 15.05 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 14.55, which means Kroger is trading at a premium to the group.
Meanwhile, KR's PEG ratio is currently 2.13. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. The average PEG ratio for the Retail - Supermarkets industry stood at 1.88 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 46, placing it within the top 19% of over 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.
To follow KR in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize 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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