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Kroger (KR) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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Kroger (KR - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $47.09, moving -0.34% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.12% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.09%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.4%.

Heading into today, shares of the supermarket chain had lost 1.6% over the past month, lagging the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 9.21% and the S&P 500's gain of 8.25% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Kroger as it approaches its next earnings report date. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.81, up 1.25% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $33.99 billion, up 7.27% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $3.91 per share and revenue of $147.07 billion, which would represent changes of +6.25% and +6.66%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes 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.

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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. Kroger is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Kroger has a Forward P/E ratio of 12.09 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 12.09, which means Kroger is trading at a no noticeable deviation to the group.

It is also worth noting that KR currently has a PEG ratio of 1.07. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. Retail - Supermarkets stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.8 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 173, putting it in the bottom 32% 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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