Kroger (KR) Competitors

Kroger (NYSE:KR) and Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) are both large-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, media sentiment, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Is KR or CASY a better dividend stock?

Kroger pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Casey's General Stores pays an annual dividend of $2.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Kroger pays out 34.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Casey's General Stores pays out 15.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Kroger has increased its dividend for 19 consecutive years and Casey's General Stores has increased its dividend for 24 consecutive years.

Is KR or CASY more profitable?

Casey's General Stores has a net margin of 3.43% compared to Kroger's net margin of 1.89%. Kroger's return on equity of 34.71% beat Casey's General Stores' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kroger	1.89%	34.71%	6.11%
Casey's General Stores	3.43%	16.28%	7.13%

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, KR or CASY?

Kroger has higher revenue and earnings than Casey's General Stores. Kroger is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Casey's General Stores, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kroger	$147.12B	0.33	$2.67B	$3.67	20.22
Casey's General Stores	$15.94B	1.21	$546.52M	$14.64	35.45

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of KR or CASY?

80.9% of Kroger shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.6% of Casey's General Stores shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Kroger shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Casey's General Stores shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, KR or CASY?

Kroger has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Casey's General Stores has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer KR or CASY?

Kroger presently has a consensus price target of $70.16, suggesting a potential downside of 5.48%. Casey's General Stores has a consensus price target of $467.33, suggesting a potential downside of 9.95%. Given Kroger's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Kroger is more favorable than Casey's General Stores.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kroger	0 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.44
Casey's General Stores	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.58

Does the media prefer KR or CASY?

In the previous week, Kroger had 30 more articles in the media than Casey's General Stores. MarketBeat recorded 48 mentions for Kroger and 18 mentions for Casey's General Stores. Casey's General Stores' average media sentiment score of 1.37 beat Kroger's score of 0.77 indicating that Casey's General Stores is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Kroger	25 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	14 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Casey's General Stores	15 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Casey's General Stores beats Kroger on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.