Is Kroger the Top US Retailer?

By Trey Thoelcke Updated Jan 13, 1:38AM EST · Published Nov 2, 8:10AM EDT

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Is Kroger the Top US Retailer? — © Thinkstock

Investors may not be impressed with Kroger Co.’s (NYSE: KR) performance lately, but it seems the company’s manufacturing partners see things differently. Kroger was named the top retailer, tied for first place in the overall composite score, in the latest Kantar Retailer PoweRanking. It dethroned last year’s top retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), which had held the spot for more than a decade.

According to Kantar Retail:

This is the first time in 20 years that Kroger has reached the pinnacle of the prestigious list, which is determined by participating manufacturers. The Kantar Retailer PoweRanking™ is designed to identify the retailers currently setting the highest standards of performance as viewed by their trading partners, and to gain insight into what makes these retailers “best in class.”

Kroger also ranked first in the following categories:

Best retailer to do business with
Best practice category leadership
Best buying teams
Most innovative merchandising

And it tied for first in the “clearest strategy” category.

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Now the country’s largest supermarket chain by revenue, and second-largest general retailer (behind Wal-Mart), just has to impress investors. Shares are down more than 26% year to date, compared to a 13% rise for Wal-Mart and a more than 3% gain for the S&P 500. The stock has recovered somewhat from the 52-week low of $28.71 hit back in early October.

Kroger did offer better-than-expected earnings in its most recent quarterly report, but investors were less than thrilled with the revenue miss and the lowered guidance for the full year. CEO Rodney McMullen put the best face on it at the time:

We are focused on long-term performance over a three-to-five year horizon. We have the right strategy, the right people, and the financial flexibility to execute our strategy, which allows us to continue investing in our associates and our business and growing market share. By staying on our strategy, we create long-term value for our shareholders.

However, in perhaps another hopeful sign for the company, short sellers got out of the way in the most recent settlement period. The number of shares sold short dropped more than 12% to 15.2 million, or 1.6% of the float, in the final weeks of October.

Kroger shares closed on Tuesday at $30.79, in a 52-week trading range of $28.71 to $42.75. The consensus analyst price target is $35.91.

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About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.