12:20 PM EDT, 04/24/2024 (MT Newswires) -- CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

We lift our 12-month target to CAD76 from CAD72, 16.1x our FY 25 (Sep.) EPS of CAD4.73 (up from CAD4.41; FY 24 down to CAD4.21 from CAD4.22) vs. the 17x long-term average. We believe FY 25 will represent a more normalized year versus FY 24, as FY 24 faces headwinds related to the new fresh/frozen distribution center (DC) opened in Terrabone (e.g., temporary duplication of costs and learning curve inefficiencies). F2Q adj-EPS of CAD0.91 (-5% Y/Y) beat by CAD0.01 on revenues of CAD4,656M (+2% Y/Y), CAD10M below consensus. Food retail same-store sales grew just 0.2% Y/Y, but would have grown 2.7% adjusting for the timing of Christmas. Similar to prior quarters, discount banners outperformed conventional. MRU sees promotional activity increasing and consumers trading down in some categories (e.g., meat), including shifting to private label. Pharmacy same-store sales grew a solid 5.9%, driven by strength in both prescription and front-store sales. Gross margin fell 16 bps Y/Y, primarily from slightly higher shrink.