11:00 AM EDT, 07/26/2024 (MT Newswires) -- National Bank has hiked its one year target on Loblaw ( LBLCF ) to $175 (from $159), and maintained its Outperform rating.

On Thursday, Loblaw ( LBLCF ) reported second quarter adjusted EPS of $2.15 versus NBF and consensus at $2.14; last year was $1.94.

National Bank notes that results were mixed; sssg was softer than expected, but EPS was largely in line and guidance was maintained. Loblaw ( LBLCF ) also indicated that third quarter Food Retail (FR) sssg improved sequentially, which will help to alleviate investor concern, analyst Vishal Shreedhar writes.

"We continue to recommend L as our preferred grocer given consistent execution and higher ROIC vs. peers."

Price: 168.05, Change: -0.25, Percent Change: -0.15