Kroger shares fall for a third straight session on Tuesday, company begins using unmanned vehicles to execute deliveries in Arizona

According to an announcement by Kroger Company (KR) on Tuesday, the supermarket chain has begun using unmanned autonomous vehicles for grocery deliveries in Scottsdale, Arizona by cooperating with start-up firm Nuro.

Shares of Kroger Company closed lower for a third consecutive trading session in New York on Tuesday. The stock went down 1.28% ($0.37) to $28.55, after touching an intraday low at $28.30, or a price level not seen since December 10th ($28.15).

Shares of Kroger Company have risen 4.01% so far in 2018 compared with a 4.77% drop for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2017, Kroger’s stock retreated 20.46%, thus, it underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 19.42% return.

According to Kroger, the delivery service will cost its customers as much as $5.95 and will be available at Krogers unit Fry’s Food Stores in Scottsdale. The US supermarket chain also said that there would be no minimum order requirement for customers, in case the delivery is executed on the same day or the next day.

The new delivery service came as a result of a test program, which Kroger and Nuro had initiated in Scottsdale in August. The program involved Nuro’s R1, a custom electric-powered vehicle having no driver and being used solely for goods transport.

Since customers increasingly prefer their purchased items to reach their doorstep as soon as possible, local “last mile” delivery still challenges a number of retailers. Leading companies in the retail industry such as Walmart and Amazon have begun tying up with start-up firms such as Postmates, DoorDash and others in an attempt to provide immediate delivery for their clientèle.

According to CNN Money, the 25 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Kroger Company’s stock price, have a median target of $31.00, with a high estimate of $37.00 and a low estimate of $24.00. The median estimate represents an 8.58% upside compared to the closing price of $28.55 on December 18th.

The same media also reported that 16 out of 27 surveyed investment analysts had rated Kroger Company’s stock as “Hold”, while 9 – as “Buy”. On the other hand, 2 analysts had recommended selling the stock.

Weekly Pivot Levels

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Kroger Company (KR) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $29.37
R1 – $30.58
R2 – $31.62
R3 – $32.83
R4 – $34.05

S1 – $28.33
S2 – $27.12
S3 – $26.08
S4 – $25.05