The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Nov. 9, edition that Stifel analyst Martin Landry has reaffirmed his "buy" recommendation for Pet Valu Holdings. The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. Landry trimmed his share target by $5 to $33. Analysts on average target the shares at $37.56. Mr. Landry says visibility on same-store-sales growth is "still limited" for 2024 following mixed third quarter results. Mr. Landry says in a note: "Pet Valu's Q3/23 same-store-sales increased by 4.2 per cent year-over-year, lower than our estimates of 6 per cent. ... Same-store sales growth was driven by a 0.2-per-cent increase in transactions and a 4-per-cent increase in average spend per transaction. According to management, sales of consumables are growing high-single-digits year-over-year, which suggests that hard lines sales (i.e. toys & accessories) are likely declining mid single digits year-over-year. While the strong consumables sales shows the resilient nature of the pet industry, we question the sustainability of the strong growth rate given it is higher than the historical mid-single-digit-percentage pace and appear largely driven by higher prices."