11:35 AM EST, 02/29/2024 (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 $36 from $27, 21x our FY 24 (Oct.) EPS of $1.70 (up from $1.63; FY 25's up to $1.85 from $1.72) vs. the 24x long-term average forward P/E. FQ1 (Jan-Q) adj-EPS of $0.41 (+4% Y/Y) beat the $0.34 consensus, as revenues of $2,997M (+1% Y/Y) beat by $82M. HRL saw solid volume growth (3.7%) and gross margin expansion (+30 bps to 17.0%), two metrics that are difficult to go hand-in-hand in this environment, although HRL did face easy Y/Y comparisons this quarter. Despite the strong start to the fiscal year, HRL kept its outlook unchanged, citing more unfavorable whole bird turkey pricing dynamics. HRL expects turkey pricing to be a $0.15/share headwind in FY 24, up from its previous estimate of $0.10, with most of it being felt in FQ2 (Apr-Q). We're lifting our opinion to Hold from Sell, as we believe HRL is set up for stronger earnings growth in F2H 2024 and FY 25. We consider FY 24 to be an investment year, with the benefits of these investments paying off in FY 25 and FY 26.