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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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

One company to watch right now is The Kroger Co. (KR - Free Report) . KR is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 11.35, while its industry has an average P/E of 23. Over the past 52 weeks, KR's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.40 and as low as 9.49, with a median of 10.45.

KR is also sporting a PEG ratio of 2.57. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. KR's industry currently sports an average PEG of 3.63. Over the last 12 months, KR's PEG has been as high as 2.58 and as low as 1.65, with a median of 2.02.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is KR's P/B ratio of 3.17. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 5.36. KR's P/B has been as high as 3.57 and as low as 2.73, with a median of 3.08, over the past year.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that KR has a P/CF ratio of 6.21. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 16.84. Over the past year, KR's P/CF has been as high as 6.53 and as low as 5.09, with a median of 5.74.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that The Kroger Co. Is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, KR sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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