Top 10 Grocery Stores Stocks
Marvin's rules rank 10 grocery stores stocks by Overall score within the industry. Village Super Market, Sprouts Farmers Market and Weis Markets lead. Scores describe today's comparison with industry peers, not future results.
Grocery stores sell everyday basics, so the industry sits in the Consumer Defensive sector. It tends to be a low-margin business: companies make small profits on each dollar of sales and rely on volume. That makes operating margin, free cash flow margin and debt especially useful to check.
This list shows the 10 grocery stores stocks that Marvin's rules ranked highest by Overall score. The Overall score blends a company's quality (the strength of its business figures) and its opportunity score. Look at the individual figures too, because a strong rank can still come with a weak spot.
Some stocks here have missing figures, and the blurbs say so. The industry label is broad, so a few companies may differ from a traditional supermarket chain. Treat this as a starting point for research, not a recommendation.
The list
How Marvin ranked these stocks
Marvin included companies above a minimum size threshold and ranked them by Overall score, highest first, within the Grocery Stores industry. Every score is relative to the company's own industry, so a high score means the company compares well with other grocery stores companies today, not with every stock on the market. The data is as of 2026-11-02.
Companies above about $300 million in size, ranked by Marvin scores (0-100, relative to each company's own industry). The Grocery Stores industry, highest Overall score first.
The stocks, one by one
Village Super Market, Inc. VLGEA
Village Super Market has the top Overall score at 92, with a quality score of 77. Revenue grew 3.7% last fiscal year, and debt-to-equity of 0.61 suggests fairly modest borrowing. Caution: operating margin is thin at 2.7%.
Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. SFM
Sprouts Farmers Market scores 85 overall, helped by a quality score of 93. Revenue grew 14.1%, and return on equity of 33.5% points to strong profit relative to shareholder capital. Caution: its debt-to-equity figure is unavailable, so debt cannot be judged here.
Weis Markets, Inc. WMK
Weis Markets has an Overall score of 77 and a high quality score of 85. Revenue growth was modest at 3.5%. Caution: free cash flow margin is only 0.8%, leaving little cash after spending, and debt data is unavailable.
Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. NGVC
Natural Grocers scores 70 overall, with a strong opportunity score of 84. Revenue grew 7.2% and return on equity is 19.9%. Caution: debt-to-equity of 1.35 is higher than several peers on this list, and free cash flow margin is a slim 1.7%.
Ingles Markets, Incorporated IMKTA
Ingles Markets has an Overall score of 61, with debt-to-equity of 0.31, the lowest on this list. Free cash flow margin is 2.8%. Caution: revenue changed by -5.4% last fiscal year, a decline, and return on equity is only 6.2%.
The Kroger Co. KR
Kroger has a middle-of-the-list Overall score of 53, with return on equity of 18.6%. Caution: its opportunity score is just 15, operating margin is thin at 1.4%, and debt-to-equity of 3.86 is high. Gross margin is not available.
Albertsons Companies, Inc. ACI
Albertsons has an Overall score of 38 and a quality score of 21. Revenue grew 3.5%. Caution: operating margin is very thin at 0.7%, return on equity is 4.1%, and debt-to-equity of 9.53 is the highest on this list.
Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. GO
Grocery Outlet has an Overall score of 30. Revenue grew 7.3% and gross margin is 30.0%. Caution: operating margin of -7.9% and return on equity of -46.7% are both negative, which points to losses over the last fiscal year.
Yesway, Inc. YSWY
Yesway has an Overall score of 22, with a quality score of 37 and an opportunity score of 30. Debt-to-equity is 1.87. Caution: growth, margin and return figures are unavailable, so there is little to judge its business beyond these scores.
Krispy Kreme, Inc. DNUT
Krispy Kreme has the lowest Overall score here at 6. Free cash flow margin is positive at 2.5%. Caution: revenue changed by -8.6%, a decline, operating margin is -2.0%, and debt-to-equity is 2.14. Gross margin is unavailable.
Common questions
Why are grocery store margins so thin?
Grocers sell high volumes of everyday goods at competitive prices, so profit per dollar of sales is usually small. That is why operating margin and free cash flow margin matter, and why small changes in costs can have a noticeable effect.
What does the Overall score mean?
It is Marvin's combined score, built from a quality score and an opportunity score. Each is measured against other companies in the same industry, so it shows how a stock compares with grocery peers today. It does not predict future performance.
Why do some companies on this list look unlike a normal supermarket?
Marvin groups stocks by their industry classification, and the list includes every company in the Grocery Stores industry that meets the size rule. Some of them have business models that differ from a traditional supermarket chain, so check what each company actually does before comparing them.
Keep reading
- Top 15 Small-Cap Consumer Defensive Stocks Ranked by Marvin Scores
- Top 15 Consumer Defensive Stocks With Low Debt
- Top 15 Fastest-Growing Profitable Consumer Defensive Stocks
- Top 15 Consumer Defensive Stocks by Marvin Opportunity Score
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Marvin's scores (0-100) compare each company with others in its industry today. Growth and margin figures come from SEC filings. This is general information, not personal investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell anything. Do your own research.