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Kroger (KR) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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Kroger (KR - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $44.26, moving -0.98% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.07%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.31%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 3.22%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the supermarket chain had lost 2.59% over the past month. This has lagged the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 8.58% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.64% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Kroger as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, Kroger is projected to report earnings of $0.93 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 2.2%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $34.81 billion, up 5.32% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.13 per share and revenue of $148.24 billion. These totals would mark changes of +12.23% and +7.51%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Kroger. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-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. 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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.1% higher within the past month. Kroger currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Investors should also note Kroger's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 10.81. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 12.18.

Investors should also note that KR has a PEG ratio of 1.77 right now. 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. The Retail - Supermarkets was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.27 at yesterday's closing price.

The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 10, which puts it in the top 4% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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