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: C, 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 6 points higher than the grocery store industry average of 35.

IMKTA passed 14 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Ingles Markets has seen its stock return 19.83% over the past year, overperforming other grocery store stocks by 44 percentage points.

Kroger Co (NYSE:KR) 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 Kroger Co (NYSE:KR) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: A, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Kroger Co (NYSE:KR) has a Due Diligence Score of 39, which is 4 points higher than the grocery store industry average of 35.

KR passed 14 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Kroger Co has seen its stock lose -0.17% over the past year, overperforming other grocery store stocks by 24 percentage points.

Kroger Co has an average 1 year price target of $66.00, an upside of 0.11% from Kroger Co's current stock price of $65.93.

Kroger Co stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 9 analysts covering Kroger Co, 11.11% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 22.22% have issued a Buy, 66.67% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Village Super Market (NASDAQ:VLGEA) 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 Village Super Market (NASDAQ:VLGEA) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Village Super Market (NASDAQ:VLGEA) has a Due Diligence Score of 49, which is 14 points higher than the grocery store industry average of 35.

VLGEA passed 17 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Village Super Market has seen its stock return 35.45% over the past year, overperforming other grocery store stocks by 60 percentage points.

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 5.16%, which is 3 percentage points higher than the grocery store industry average of 2.4%. 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 -3,200% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Village Super Market (NASDAQ:VLGEA) has an annual dividend yield of 2.35%, which is the same as the grocery store industry average of 2.4%. Village Super Market's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Village Super Market's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Village Super Market's dividend payout ratio of 25.4% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Kroger Co (NYSE:KR) has an annual dividend yield of 2.18%, which is the same as the grocery store industry average of 2.4%. 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 79.6% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Grocery store stocks were down -3.39% in the last day, and down -10.31% over the last week. Sprouts Farmers Market was the among the top losers in the grocery stores industry, dropping -22.58% yesterday.

Sprouts Farmers Market shares are trading lower after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 financial results and issued Q4 adjusted EPS results below estimates. Also, the company issued FY26 guidance below estimates.

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:

Village Super Market (NASDAQ:VLGEA) 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.

Village Super Market has a valuation score of 86, which is 49 points higher than the grocery store industry average of 37. It passed 6 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Village Super Market's stock has gained 35.45% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the grocery store industry by 60 percentage points.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) 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.

Sprouts Farmers Market has a valuation score of 71, which is 34 points higher than the grocery store industry average of 37. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Sprouts Farmers Market's stock has dropped -54.09% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the grocery store industry by -30 percentage points.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) 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.

Albertsons Companies has a valuation score of 0, which is -37 points higher than the grocery store industry average of 37. It passed 0 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 -29.99% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the grocery store industry by -6 percentage points.

42.86% of grocery store stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect grocery store stocks to rise by 17.2% 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), 61.54% are rated C (Hold), 30.77% are rated D (Sell), and 0% are rated F (Strong Sell).