Kroger (NYSE:KR) and NextPlat (NASDAQ:NXPL) Head-To-Head Analysis

Kroger (NYSE:KR) and NextPlat (NASDAQ:NXPL) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Kroger and NextPlat’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kroger	0.71%	44.33%	6.20%
NextPlat	-20.38%	-54.66%	-34.82%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Kroger and NextPlat”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kroger	$147.64 billion	0.24	$1.02 billion	$1.70	33.45
NextPlat	$48.89 million	0.52	-$10.46 million	($3.67)	-2.54

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Kroger and NextPlat, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kroger	0	9	10	0	2.53
NextPlat	1	1	1	0	2.00

Kroger presently has a consensus target price of $72.00, suggesting a potential upside of 26.60%. NextPlat has a consensus target price of $11.00, suggesting a potential upside of 18.03%. Given Kroger’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Kroger is more favorable than NextPlat.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

80.9% of Kroger shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.3% of NextPlat shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Kroger shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 46.1% of NextPlat shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Kroger has a beta of 0.43, suggesting that its stock price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NextPlat has a beta of 1.83, suggesting that its stock price is 83% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Kroger beats NextPlat on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kroger

The Kroger Co. operates as a food and drug retailer in the United States. The company operates combination food and drug stores, multi-department stores, marketplace stores, and price impact warehouses. Its combination food and drug stores offer natural food and organic sections, pharmacies, general merchandise, pet centers, fresh seafood, and organic produce; and multi-department stores provide apparel, home fashion and furnishings, outdoor living, electronics, automotive products, and toys. The company’s marketplace stores offer full-service grocery, pharmacy, health and beauty care, and perishable goods, as well as general merchandise, including apparel, home goods, and toys; and price impact warehouse stores provide grocery, and health and beauty care items, as well as meat, dairy, baked goods, and fresh produce items. It also manufactures and processes food products for sale in its supermarkets and online; and sells fuel through fuel centers. The Kroger Co. was founded in 1883 and is based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

About NextPlat

NextPlat Corp operates as a healthcare and e-commerce company in Europe, North America, South America, the Asia and Pacific, and Africa. The company operates full-service retail specialty services pharmacies that provides prescription pharmaceuticals prescription pharmaceuticals, third-party administration, risk and data management services, compounded medications, tele-pharmacy services, anti-retroviral medications, medication therapy management, contracted pharmacy services, and health practice risk management to healthcare organizations and providers, as well as supplies prescription medications to long-term care facilities. It also offers COVID-19 related diagnostics and vaccinations, and medication adherence packaging; and value-added services, such as prior authorization assistance, same-day home-medication delivery, on site provider consultation services, primary care reporting and analytics, and customized packaging solutions, as well as acquires and leases an e-commerce platform to collaborate with businesses to optimize their ability to sell their goods online. In addition, it operates e-commerce websites, as well as third-party e-commerce storefronts that provides mobile satellite services solutions for satellite-enabled voice, data, personnel and asset tracking, machine-to-machine, and internet of things connectivity services; voice, data communications, internet of things (IoT), and machine-to-machine services; tracking and monitoring solutions and services; satellite communications products; and GPS enabled emergency locator distress beacons. Further, it offers satellite tracking devices used to monitor the location, movements, and history of anything that moves; SolarTrack, a compact, lightweight, IoT tracking device powered by the sun; and GTCTrack, a subscription-based mapping and tracking portal. The company was formerly known as Orbsat Corp. and changed its name to NextPlat Corp in January 2022. NextPlat Corp is based in Coconut Grove, Florida.