ACI vs NGVC vs KR Stock Comparison

Albertsons Companies, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage and Kroger Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
KR Kroger Co
$66.79 +13.7% 1M -0.5% 1Y
Market cap
$39.87B
P/E
51.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$137.15B
Div. yield
–
Grocery Stores Consumer Staples
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage 7, Kroger 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionACINGVCKRLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $6.64B $702.00M $39.87B KR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 204.4x 14.7x 51.3x NGVC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 15.5x 12.6x KR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -5.1% +2.0% -6.7% NGVC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 0.0% 3.5% 0.6% NGVC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 4.2% 21.0% 5.7% NGVC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -0.2x 3.4x NGVC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.02% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -25.0% -23.4% -0.5% KR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -14.3%/yr +20.7%/yr +11.1%/yr NGVC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 39.5% 41.2% 29.9% KR
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 36/100 69/100 33/100 NGVC

Percentile Scorecard

ACINGVCKR

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisACINGVCKR
Valuation 62 #16 of 40 69 #13 of 40 49 #21 of 40
Growth 3 #37 of 38 68 #13 of 38 8 #35 of 38
Profitability 23 #28 of 36 69 #12 of 36 31 #25 of 36
Financial Health 3 #39 of 40 74 #11 of 40 15 #34 of 40
Shareholder Returns 89 #4 of 28 67 #10 of 28 63 #11 of 28
Overall 36 69 33
  • ACI ranked among 41 companies in Staples Retail
  • NGVC ranked among 41 companies in Staples Retail
  • KR ranked among 41 companies in Staples Retail

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodACINGVCKRSPY
1 month +19.9%+4.6%+13.7% -0.8%
3 months +23.1%-2.1%+15.2% +3.5%
6 months -15.6%+14.5%+1.4% +7.0%
Year to date -18.6%+23.9%+6.9% +12.2%
1 year -25.0%-23.4%-0.5% +13.0%
3 years -35.7%+151.3%+50.3% +86.3%
3 years, per year -13.7%+36.0%+14.6% +23.1%
5 years -53.7%+156.4%+69.2% +68.6%
5 years, per year -14.3%+20.7%+11.1% +11.0%
10 years —+152.9%+116.1% +258.0%
10 years, per year —+9.7%+8.0% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureACINGVCKRSPY
Volatility, 1Y 39.5%41.2%29.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 45.3%43.3%29.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.23-0.35-0.70 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.63-0.57-0.02 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -70.1%-64.1%-31.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -25.6%-21.8%-11.7% -1.8%
52-week high $18.78$39.70$75.60 $779.14
52-week low $11.02$23.71$55.53 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleACINGVCKR
P/E now vs peer median 208.4xmedian 22.0x 15.0xmedian 22.0x 52.1xmedian 22.0x
P/S now vs peer median 0.1xmedian 0.5x 0.5xmedian 0.5x 0.3xmedian 0.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 9.8x 7.3xmedian 9.8x 12.0xmedian 9.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 11.3xmedian 17.8x 31.5xmedian 17.8x 10.1xmedian 17.8x
P/B now vs peer median 4.6xmedian 3.0x 3.0xmedian 3.0x 6.7xmedian 3.0x
PEG now vs peer median -3.00median 1.18 0.44median 1.18 -3.03median 1.18

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsACINGVCKR
Revenue $77.19B $1.34B $137.15B
Gross profit $20.93B $398.34M $31.69B
Operating income $452.80M $63.25M $1.54B
Net income $32.50M $47.64M $798.00M
Free cash flow – $22.71M –
EPS (diluted) $0.07 $2.05 $1.28
Cash & equivalents $282.00M $17.47M $1.68B
Total debt $35.41B $1.45M $17.00B
Shares (diluted) 488.20M 23.26M 608.00M
Enterprise value $5.70B $623.48M $26.02B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricACINGVCKR
P/E 208.4x 15.0x 52.1x
P/FCF 11.3x 31.5x 10.1x
P/Operating cash flow – 10.1x –
P/S 0.1x 0.5x 0.3x
P/B 4.6x 3.0x 6.7x
P/Tangible book -11.1x 3.1x 7.9x
EV/EBITDA – 7.3x 12.0x
EV/EBIT 34.5x 11.1x 35.6x
EV/Revenue 0.2x 0.5x 0.4x
EV/FCF – 30.8x –
EV/Operating cash flow – 9.9x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.00 0.44 -3.03

Growth

14 metrics
MetricACINGVCKR
Revenue growth (1Y) -5.1% 2.0% -6.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -0.7% 6.3% -2.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -5.9% 1.0% -6.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -1.5% 7.8% -0.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) -70.6% 8.0% -60.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -40.0% 31.9% -16.7%
Net income growth (1Y) -96.7% 9.1% -70.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -71.3% 34.6% -21.3%
EPS growth (1Y) -96.2% 9.4% -68.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -69.5% 33.9% -17.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 10.2% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 15.1% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -34.2% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 27.4% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricACINGVCKR
Gross margin 27.1% 29.6% 23.1%
EBITDA margin – 7.1% 3.3%
Operating margin 0.6% 4.7% 1.1%
Pretax margin 0.0% 4.5% 0.7%
Net margin 0.0% 3.5% 0.6%
FCF margin – 1.7% –
Operating cash flow margin – 5.3% –
Return on equity 2.0% 20.3% 13.5%
Return on assets 0.1% 6.9% 1.6%
Return on invested capital 4.2% 21.0% 5.7%
Return on capital employed 2.5% 12.0% 4.9%
Asset turnover 2.9x 2.0x 2.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.5x –
Stock comp / revenue – 0.3% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricACINGVCKR
Debt / assets 34.3% 0.2% 34.3%
Debt / equity 6.5x 0.0x 2.9x
Net debt / EBITDA – -0.2x 3.4x
Debt / FCF – 0.1x –
Liabilities / assets 94.7% 65.2% 88.2%
Equity / assets 5.3% 34.8% 11.8%
Interest coverage – 23.4x 153.9x
Current ratio 0.8x 1.1x 0.7x
Quick ratio 0.2x 0.2x 0.2x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.1x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 3.04 3.60 4.13

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricACINGVCKR
Dividend yield 4.7% 1.9% 2.2%
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield 4.7% 1.9% 2.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 27.5% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 57.8% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 24.5% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 13.0% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusACINGVCKR
Forward P/E – 15.5xFY2026 12.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year – $2.00FY2026 $5.30FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – -7.8%FY2026 +9.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +19.0% +7.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year – $1.40BFY2026 $160.02BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – +5.2%FY2026 +8.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – +0.8% -6.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersACINGVCKR
Held by institutions 93.5% 40.0% 85.6%
Institutions holding 447 158 1,319
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.7% +6.1% +0.0%
Institutions buying 234 90 668
Institutions selling 163 39 473
Buyers to sellers 1.44 2.31 1.41

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ACINGVCKR
ACI 1.00 0.37 0.59
NGVC 0.37 1.00 0.43
KR 0.59 0.43 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ACI, NGVC and KR?

Kroger (KR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Albertsons Companies (ACI) $6.64B, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) $702.00M, Kroger (KR) $39.87B.

Which stock is cheaper, ACI, NGVC and KR?

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Albertsons Companies (ACI) 204.4x, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) 14.7x, Kroger (KR) 51.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Kroger (KR) is cheapest (Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) 15.5x, Kroger (KR) 12.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Albertsons Companies (ACI) -5.1%, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) +2.0%, Kroger (KR) -6.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) has the highest net margin (Albertsons Companies (ACI) 0.0%, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) 3.5%, Kroger (KR) 0.6%). On return on invested capital, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) leads (Albertsons Companies (ACI) 4.2%, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) 21.0%, Kroger (KR) 5.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Kroger (KR) returned the most: Albertsons Companies (ACI) -25.0%, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) -23.4%, Kroger (KR) -0.5%. Over five years, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) compounded fastest (Albertsons Companies (ACI) -14.3%/yr, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) +20.7%/yr, Kroger (KR) +11.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Albertsons Companies (ACI) 0.00%, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) 0.02%, Kroger (KR) 0.00%. Albertsons Companies (ACI) and Kroger (KR) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Kroger (KR) has been the steadiest (Albertsons Companies (ACI) 39.5%, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) 41.2%, Kroger (KR) 29.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ACI, NGVC and KR?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.