11:10 AM EDT, 03/20/2024 (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 $76 from $60, 16x our FY 25 EPS view of $4.76 (up from $4.60; FY 24's up to $4.70 from $4.56) vs. the 17x long-term mean. FQ3 (Feb-Q) adj-EPS of $1.17 (+21% Y/Y) beat by $0.12. Organic sales fell 1% Y/Y, but volumes improved sequentially from FQ2 (-2% vs. -4%). Pricing moderated to +2% vs. +3% in FQ2. The highlight was the sequential improvement in Pet, which saw volumes of -5% Y/Y vs. -11% Y/Y in FQ2. North America Retail volumes also improved sequentially (-2% vs. -5%). Volumes should inflect positive in a few quarters, as GIS is beginning to lap two major headwinds from last year: 1) SNAP reduction from March '23, and 2) competitors improving their on-shelf availability. Cost savings continue to be strong and above pre-pandemic rates, which we think will continue in FY 25. That said, incentive-based comp will likely come back in FY 25 and limit EPS growth. While sales and margins are moving in the right direction, we still believe FY 25 will be a below-algorithm type of year.