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Kroger (KR) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Kroger (KR - Free Report) closed at $46.74 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.43% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.85% gain on the day.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the supermarket chain had gained 17.67% over the past month. This has outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 4.94% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.85% in that time.

KR will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.65, down 10.96% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $30.41 billion, down 0.25% from the year-ago period.

KR's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $3.08 per share and revenue of $132.24 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -11.24% and -0.2%, respectively.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for KR should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. KR currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Investors should also note KR's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 15.25. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 15.25, so we one might conclude that KR is trading at a no noticeable deviation comparatively.

It is also worth noting that KR currently has a PEG ratio of 1.8. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Retail - Supermarkets was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.52 at yesterday's closing price.

The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 210, putting it in the bottom 18% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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