Following a government report this week that showed another month of soft food inflation data, Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh said he expects low food inflation to continue to weigh on grocery names, taking a "subdued" view into earnings for pure-play grocery names like Kroger (KR), National Grocers (NGVC), Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) and Smart & Final Stores (SFS). Parikh's top picks across the broader grocery/discounter space remain Dollar General (DG) and Dollar Tree (DLTR), followed by Sprouts, he said. The analyst has an Outperform rating on Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Sprouts, and a Perform rating on Kroger, Natural Grocers, Smart & Final Stores and United Natural Foods (UNFI).

VP of Kroger, Mary Ellen Adcock, disclosed the sale of 82,806 shares of company stock at $55.61 per share on April 23, for a total transaction amount of $4,605,189.

Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced he signed onto a pending resolution with Kroger that will bring in $47.5M to combat the opioid epidemic in Washington state. Half of these resources will go to the state and the other half will go to Washington city and county governments. The $47.5M will be paid over 11 years. The first payment of $4.3M will come within a few months of the resolution being finalized by the litigating states and local jurisdictions, Ferguson said in a statement.

JPMorgan analyst Ken Goldman added Albertsons (ACI) to the firm's Analyst Focus List as a value idea and placed the stock on "Positive Catalyst Watch" following the fiscal Q4 earnings release. The "gap between the current share price and fair value is too wide," the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says its trimming of out-year estimates does not impair Albertsons' standalone value, which it estimates at $24 per share. JPMorgan continues to believe the stock's valuation discount to Kroger (KR) is too wide given the companies similarities. It also believes the probability that Albertsons gets bought has increased, given yesterday's announcement that additional stores and services will be sent C&S's way. The firm says the risk/reward for Albertsons stock "is becoming too appealing to ignore." It keeps an Overweight rating on the name with a $27 price target.