Kroger (KR) Competitors

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

Does the media refer more to KR or CASY?

In the previous week, Kroger had 44 more articles in the media than Casey's General Stores. MarketBeat recorded 66 mentions for Kroger and 22 mentions for Casey's General Stores. Casey's General Stores' average media sentiment score of 1.30 beat Kroger's score of 0.42 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	22 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	31 Neutral mention(s)	5 Negative mention(s)	3 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Casey's General Stores	15 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is KR or CASY more profitable?

Casey's General Stores has a net margin of 3.54% compared to Kroger's net margin of 1.86%. Kroger's return on equity of 32.62% beat Casey's General Stores' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kroger	1.86%	32.62%	5.79%
Casey's General Stores	3.54%	16.73%	7.15%

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in KR or CASY?

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

Which has better earnings and valuation, 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	0.30	$2.67B	$3.94	16.97
Casey's General Stores	$15.94B	1.29	$546.52M	$15.58	35.58

Which has more volatility and risk, KR or CASY?

Kroger has a beta of 0.57, meaning that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Casey's General Stores has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is KR or CASY a better dividend stock?

Kroger pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Casey's General Stores pays an annual dividend of $2.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Kroger pays out 35.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Casey's General Stores pays out 14.6% 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.

Do analysts prefer KR or CASY?

Kroger currently has a consensus target price of $73.63, indicating a potential upside of 10.11%. Casey's General Stores has a consensus target price of $533.10, indicating a potential downside of 3.82%. Given Kroger's higher probable upside, equities 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)	10 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Casey's General Stores	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.73

Summary

Casey's General Stores beats Kroger on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.