Here's Why Kroger (KR) Gained But Lagged the Market Today
In the latest trading session, Kroger (KR) closed at $47.84, marking a +0.06% move from the previous day. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 2.11%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 1.18%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 2.96%.
The supermarket chain's shares have seen an increase of 3.71% over the last month, not keeping up with the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 4.94% and outstripping the S&P 500's gain of 3.08%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Kroger in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $1.13, showcasing a 14.14% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $37.27 billion, showing a 7.01% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Kroger. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained unchanged. Kroger is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Kroger has a Forward P/E ratio of 11.01 right now. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 12.32 of its industry.
We can also see that KR currently has a PEG ratio of 2.49. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Retail - Supermarkets industry held an average PEG ratio of 1.22.
The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 56, placing it within the top 23% of over 250 industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.
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The Kroger Co. (KR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
