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KR vs. WMMVY: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Retail - Supermarkets sector have probably already heard of Kroger (KR - Free Report) and Wal-Mart de Mexico SAB de CV (WMMVY - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Kroger and Wal-Mart de Mexico SAB de CV are sporting Zacks Ranks of #1 (Strong Buy) and #4 (Sell), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that KR likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than WMMVY has recently. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

KR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.03, while WMMVY has a forward P/E of 23.92. We also note that KR has a PEG ratio of 1.84. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. WMMVY currently has a PEG ratio of 2.65.

Another notable valuation metric for KR is its P/B ratio of 3.54. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, WMMVY has a P/B of 7.41.

Based on these metrics and many more, KR holds a Value grade of B, while WMMVY has a Value grade of D.

KR sticks out from WMMVY in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that KR is the better option right now.


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