Kroger price target raised to $59 from $58 at JPMorgan

JPMorgan raised the firm’s price target on Kroger to $59 from $58 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares after its Q2 earnings beat. The market is overly cautious on the food retail industry at large, which is “more rational” than it used to be and offers more ways to drive margin-accretive revenue than ever before, the analyst tells investors in a research note. If total-store inflation continues to inflect higher – which the firm expects it to as prices on the store’s perimeter catch up with wholesale inflation – then the narrative on Kroger’s identical sales can remain constructive, the firm added.