09:35 AM EST, 03/06/2024 (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 $770 from $659, 44.1x our FY 25 (Aug.) EPS of $17.45 (up from $17.07; FY 24 up to $15.93 from $15.68) vs. the 37x five-year average forward P/E. COST will report FQ2 results on March 7. We expect comp sales growth (ex-gas/FX) to accelerate from FQ1, as traffic looks to have been strong during the holiday season and in January. COST's strong value proposition and assortment seem to be resonating well with consumers in this inflationary environment. Our Hold view reflects COST's record-high forward P/E, which we think can be partially explained by a potential membership fee increase sometime this year. In addition, COST has recently been cracking down on membership sharing, which could also spur membership income growth. Lastly, we think investors are pleased with the hire of Gary Millerchip as CFO (KR's former CFO), as he should bring invaluable insights in areas like e-commerce, technology, and data analytics, which are areas that COST has historically been slower to invest in.