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

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In the latest trading session, Kroger (KR - Free Report) closed at $51.16, marking a -0.68% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.95% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.6%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.04%.

Heading into today, shares of the supermarket chain had lost 7.56% over the past month, outpacing the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 17.97% and lagging the S&P 500's loss of 7.49% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Kroger as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect Kroger to post earnings of $1.27 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 6.72%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $43.22 billion, up 4.65% from the prior-year quarter.

KR's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $3.83 per share and revenue of $142.23 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +4.08% and +3.15%, respectively.

Investors should also note any 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 company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 2.09% higher. Kroger is holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now.

In terms of valuation, Kroger is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 13.44. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 11.1, so we one might conclude that Kroger is trading at a premium comparatively.

It is also worth noting that KR currently has a PEG ratio of 1.36. 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. The Retail - Supermarkets was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.02 at yesterday's closing price.

The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 229, which puts it in the bottom 10% 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.

To follow KR in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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