Sectors & IndustriesConsumer DefensiveGrocery Stores

Best Grocery Store Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top grocery store stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +28.50% per year, and are the best grocery store stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best grocery store stocks to buy right now are:

Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA) is the #1 top grocery store stock out of 13 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +17.17% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: A, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA) has a Due Diligence Score of 41, which is 7 points higher than the grocery store industry average of 34.

IMKTA passed 14 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Ingles Markets has seen its stock return 30.31% over the past year, overperforming other grocery store stocks by 64 percentage points.

Natural Grocers By Vitamin Cottage (NYSE:NGVC) is the #2 top grocery store stock out of 13 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +5.11% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Natural Grocers By Vitamin Cottage (NYSE:NGVC) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Natural Grocers By Vitamin Cottage (NYSE:NGVC) has a Due Diligence Score of 56, which is 22 points higher than the grocery store industry average of 34.

NGVC passed 21 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Natural Grocers By Vitamin Cottage has seen its stock lose -32.59% over the past year, overperforming other grocery store stocks by 1 percentage points.

Kroger Co (NYSE:KR) is the #3 top grocery store stock out of 13 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +5.11% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Kroger Co (NYSE:KR) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: D, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Kroger Co (NYSE:KR) has a Due Diligence Score of 27, which is -7 points lower than the grocery store industry average of 34.

KR passed 9 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Kroger Co has seen its stock lose -21.59% over the past year, overperforming other grocery store stocks by 12 percentage points.

Kroger Co has an average 1 year price target of $69.20, an upside of 22.87% from Kroger Co's current stock price of $56.32.

Kroger Co stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 10 analysts covering Kroger Co, 20% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 20% have issued a Buy, 60% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 6 grocery store stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 grocery store stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) has an annual dividend yield of 5.34%, which is 3 percentage points higher than the grocery store industry average of 2.59%. Albertsons Companies's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Albertsons Companies's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Albertsons Companies's dividend payout ratio of 376.5% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Natural Grocers By Vitamin Cottage (NYSE:NGVC) has an annual dividend yield of 2.63%, which is the same as the grocery store industry average of 2.59%. Natural Grocers By Vitamin Cottage's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Natural Grocers By Vitamin Cottage's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Natural Grocers By Vitamin Cottage's dividend payout ratio of 27.7% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Kroger Co (NYSE:KR) has an annual dividend yield of 2.56%, which is the same as the grocery store industry average of 2.59%. Kroger Co's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Kroger Co's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Kroger Co's dividend payout ratio of 83.8% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Grocery store stocks were up 0.11% in the last day, and down -0.49% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why grocery store stocks are up.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued grocery store stocks right now are:

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) is the most undervalued grocery store stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Albertsons Companies has a valuation score of 29, which is -3 points higher than the grocery store industry average of 32. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates ACI a Valuation Rating of "B".

Albertsons Companies's stock has dropped -39.22% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the grocery store industry by -5 percentage points.

Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA) is the second most undervalued grocery store stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Ingles Markets has a valuation score of 57, which is 25 points higher than the grocery store industry average of 32. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Ingles Markets's stock has gained 30.31% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the grocery store industry by 64 percentage points.

Kroger Co (NYSE:KR) is the third most undervalued grocery store stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Kroger Co has a valuation score of 14, which is -18 points higher than the grocery store industry average of 32. It passed 1 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates KR a Valuation Rating of "B".

Kroger Co's stock has dropped -21.59% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the grocery store industry by 12 percentage points.

57.14% of grocery store stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect grocery store stocks to rise by 106.27% over the next year.

0% of grocery store stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 7.69% of grocery store stocks are rated B (Buy), 69.23% are rated C (Hold), 15.38% are rated D (Sell), and 7.69% are rated F (Strong Sell).