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KR or WMT: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Retail - Supermarkets sector might want to consider either Kroger (KR - Free Report) or Walmart (WMT - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to take a closer look.

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.

Both Kroger and Walmart have a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. This means that both companies have witnessed positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

KR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.29, while WMT has a forward P/E of 34.40. We also note that KR has a PEG ratio of 0.92. 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. WMT currently has a PEG ratio of 4.20.

Another notable valuation metric for KR is its P/B ratio of 3.42. 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. For comparison, WMT has a P/B of 7.44.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to KR's Value grade of A and WMT's Value grade of C.

Both KR and WMT are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that KR is the superior value option right now.


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