03:05 PM EDT, 05/30/2024 (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 cut our 12-month target by $2 to $34, 18.8x our FY 25 (Oct.) EPS of $1.81 (cut from $1.85; FY 24 cut to $1.64 from 1.70) and a discount to its long-term mean of 23x. FQ2 (Apr-Q) adj-EPS of $0.38 (-4% Y/Y) beat by $0.02 but revenues of $2,887M (-3% Y/Y) missed by $80M. The retail segment disappointed after an encouraging FQ1, with FQ2 retail sales down 6.7% Y/Y (-5.4% volumes; -1.3% price/mix). HRL saw soft demand for certain center-store canned products, with the exception being brands like Skippy and SPAM. The company's value-added meats business was negatively impacted by current turkey pricing dynamics, which is expected to persist through this fiscal year. HRL raised the top end of its adj-EPS guidance range by $0.04 (now seeking $1.55-$1.65), but said it is tracking toward the lower end of its sales guidance range. FQ3 is expected to be a weak quarter, partly due to some unplanned downtime within a Planter's facility in Suffolk, Virginia, but FQ4 is expected to see solid top- and bottom-line growth.