Investors hope Kroger (NYSE: KR) will top analyst estimates once again after beating predictions by 2 cents last quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, June 16. Kroger is a retail chain operating food and drug stores, multi-department stores, jewelry stores, and convenience stores in the United States.
What analysts say:
- Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts are bullish on this stock -- nine analysts rate it as a buy, versus only three rating it as a sell. Overall, analysts are a little more optimistic about the stock compared to three months ago.
- Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $26.48 billion in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 6.9% from the year-ago quarter.
- Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average analyst is estimating earnings of 64 cents per share. Estimates range from 60 cents to 66 cents.
What our community says:
CAPS All Stars are solidly backing the stock with 93.4% granting it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All Stars with 90.4% awarding it a rating of "outperform." Fools have embraced Kroger and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 225 posts in the past 30 days. Kroger's mediocre CAPS rating of three out of five stars falls far short of the Fool community enthusiasm for the stock.
Management:
Revenue has now gone up for three straight quarters. In the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, revenue rose 5.8% to $19.93 billion while the figure rose 6% in third quarter from the year earlier.
Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows gross and net margins over the past four quarters.
| Quarter | Q4 | Q3 | Q2 | Q1 |
| Gross Margin | 21.7% | 22.1% | 22.4% | 22.6% |
| Net Margin | 1.4% | 1.1% | 1.4% | 1.5% |
One final thing: If you want to keep tabs on Kroger's movements, and for more analysis on the company, make sure you add it to your Watchlist.
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