Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT), The Kroger Co. (KR): Is Anyone Else Playing With Infrared Cameras?

Wal-Mart is, well Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT). The biggest of its kind in the world, it’ll likely continue expanding out to the farthest reaches of the globe. Its next frontier will be challenging Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), and if management does it right, there will be no stopping Wal-Mart.

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) is by far the smallest of the bunch. Kroger has the advantage in that it can focus on smaller transactions because its stores are generally smaller.

Which one?

All three of these companies have great prospects for growth. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of these stocks in your portfolio. To be safe, we will check the five-year growth numbers, the dividend yield, and the P/E ratio to see which is the best pick.

We’ll start with the five-year growth forecast, where Kroger wins out with a 12.2%. Target follows a close second with 9.5%, and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is at the back of the pack with a 5.4%.

When it comes to the dividend yield, which all three of these grocery chains have, it’s Wal-Mart who takes the victory. Wal-Mart’s yield is a moderate 2.37%, while Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) offers 2.04% and The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) pays out 1.73%.

Kroger takes the victory in terms of P/E ratio too. The company’s P/E ratio sits at 12.52, while Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) and Target are firmly within the 15’s.

Final verdict

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) offers the versatility of a small fish in a giant pond. It also pays a dividend and has a five-year growth rate of 12.2%.

While Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) and Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) aren’t bad companies, it seems that analysts’ best pick here is The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR).

The article Kroger Has New Technology – What About Its Competitors? originally appeared on Fool.com.

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