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Are Investors Undervaluing The Kroger Co. (KR) Right Now?

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While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One company to watch right now is The Kroger Co. (KR - Free Report) . KR is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 10.84 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 20.79. Over the last 12 months, KR's Forward P/E has been as high as 13.65 and as low as 10.15, with a median of 10.98.

We also note that KR holds a PEG ratio of 1.81. 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. KR's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 3.71. KR's PEG has been as high as 1.86 and as low as 0.87, with a median of 1.33, all within the past year.

We should also highlight that KR has a P/B ratio of 3.50. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. KR's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 3.89. Over the past 12 months, KR's P/B has been as high as 4.07 and as low as 3.08, with a median of 3.46.

Finally, our model also underscores that KR has a P/CF ratio of 5.91. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 13.95. KR's P/CF has been as high as 6.89 and as low as 5.14, with a median of 5.80, all within the past year.

Another great Retail - Supermarkets stock you could consider is Tesco (TSCDY - Free Report) , which is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.

Tesco is trading at a forward earnings multiple of 11.91 at the moment, with a PEG ratio of 2.54. This compares to its industry's average P/E of 20.79 and average PEG ratio of 3.71.

Over the last 12 months, TSCDY's P/E has been as high as 13.89, as low as 9.09, with a median of 11.81, and its PEG ratio has been as high as 4.15, as low as 0.32, with a median of 3.34.

Additionally, Tesco has a P/B ratio of 1.44 while its industry's price-to-book ratio sits at 3.89. For TSCDY, this valuation metric has been as high as 1.58, as low as 0.99, with a median of 1.22 over the past year.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in The Kroger Co. and Tesco's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that KR and TSCDY is an impressive value stock right now.


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