Now trading at a price of $56.57, Kroger has moved 1.4% so far today.
Kroger returned gains of 25.3% last year, with its stock price reaching a high of $58.34 and a low of $42.1. Over the same period, the stock underperformed the S&P 500 index by -5.9%. The company's 50-day average price was $55.2. The Kroger Co. operates as a food and drug retailer in the United States. Based in Cincinnati, OH, the Large-Cap Consumer Staples company has 414,000 full time employees. Kroger has offered a 2.1% dividend yield over the last 12 months.
The Firm Has a Declining EPS Growth Trend:
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (M) | $121,852 | $122,286 | $132,498 | $137,888 | $148,258 | $150,039 |
| Gross Margins | 22% | 22% | 23% | 22% | 21% | 22% |
| Net Margins | 3% | 1% | 2% | 1% | 2% | 1% |
| Net Income (M) | $3,110 | $1,659 | $2,585 | $1,655 | $2,244 | $2,164 |
| Net Interest Expense (M) | $620 | $603 | $544 | $571 | $535 | $441 |
| Depreciation & Amort. (M) | $2,465 | $2,649 | $2,747 | $2,824 | $2,965 | $3,125 |
| Diluted Shares (M) | 807 | 780 | 752 | 724 | 725 | 727 |
| Earnings Per Share | $3.85 | $2.13 | $3.44 | $2.29 | $3.1 | $2.98 |
| EPS Growth | n/a | -44.68% | 61.5% | -33.43% | 35.37% | -3.87% |
| Avg. Price | $25.01 | $23.3 | $30.3 | $37.5 | $50.02 | $56.57 |
| P/E Ratio | 6.41 | 10.94 | 8.81 | 16.38 | 15.98 | 18.86 |
| Free Cash Flow (M) | $1,197 | $1,536 | $3,950 | $3,576 | $1,420 | $2,884 |
| CAPEX (M) | $2,967 | $3,128 | $2,865 | $2,614 | $3,078 | $3,904 |
| EV / EBITDA | 6.94 | 5.83 | 6.09 | 6.04 | 6.51 | 7.78 |
| Total Debt (M) | $15,835 | $12,629 | $13,149 | $11,869 | $12,005 | $10,372 |
| Net Debt / EBITDA | 3.01 | 2.13 | 1.97 | 1.74 | 1.45 | 1.22 |
| Current Ratio | 0.78 | 0.83 | 0.8 | 0.76 | 0.8 | 0.87 |
Kroger has growing revenues and increasing reinvestment in the business, generally positive cash flows, and healthy leverage levels. However, Kroger has slimmer gross margins than its peers, declining EPS growth, and not enough current assets to cover current liabilities because its current ratio is 0.87.
a Very Low P/E Ratio but Its Shares Are Expensive:
Kroger has a trailing twelve month P/E ratio of 14.5, compared to an average of 23.09 for the Consumer Staples sector. Based on its EPS guidance of $4.58, the company has a forward P/E ratio of 12.1. The 2.5% compound average growth rate of Kroger's historical and projected earnings per share yields a PEG ratio of 5.75. This suggests that these shares are overvalued. Furthermore, Kroger is likely overvalued compared to the book value of its equity, since its P/B ratio of 4.59 is higher than the sector average of 3.3. The company's shares are currently trading 66.5% below their Graham number.
Kroger Has an Average Rating of Buy:
The 17 analysts following Kroger have set target prices ranging from $52.0 to $70.0 per share, for an average of $59.28 with a buy rating. The company is trading -4.6% away from its average target price, indicating that there is an analyst consensus of some upside potential.
Kroger has a very low short interest because 1.5% of the company's shares are sold short. Institutions own 77.0% of the company's shares, and the insider ownership rate stands at 7.6%, suggesting a large amount of insider shareholders. The largest shareholder is Vanguard Group Inc, whose 11% stake in the company is worth $4,595,005,142.
