Kroger Stock Drops Despite Market Gains: Important Facts to Note

In the latest trading session, Kroger KR closed at $53.89, marking a -0.57% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.09%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.49%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.65%.

The stock of supermarket chain has fallen by 4.19% in the past month, lagging the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 5.59% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.78%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Kroger in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $1.33, signifying a 11.92% drop compared to the same quarter of the previous year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $44.97 billion, reflecting a 0.43% fall from the equivalent quarter last year.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.43 per share and revenue of $147.97 billion, which would represent changes of -6.93% and -1.38%, respectively, from the prior year.

Furthermore, it would be beneficial for investors to monitor any recent shifts in analyst projections for Kroger. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained unchanged. Kroger is holding a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now.

With respect to valuation, Kroger is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 12.23. This denotes a discount relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 12.75.

Meanwhile, KR's PEG ratio is currently 2.53. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Retail - Supermarkets industry held an average PEG ratio of 2.53.

The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 201, which puts it in the bottom 21% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

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