Kroger (KR) isn't far off from its 52-week high. The stock closed Friday at a price of $23.60; the top quote for the year is $24.14. The range has been tight for the shares: the 52-week low is $19.08. Earlier in the week, the supermarket concern posted earnings for the fourth quarter. How were the results?

They weren't bad. According to Reuters, Q4 profit on an adjusted basis came in at 46 cents per share. This turned out to be two pennies ahead of Wall Street's overall estimate. Even better, identical-store sales excluding the effect of fuel transactions increased 3.8%. I'm sure those who own Safeway (SWY) might be a little jealous on the latter count since their company experienced a decline in this metric.

Ventas (VTR) and Nationwide Health Properties (NHP) announced Ventas will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Health Properties for a fixed exchange ratio of 0.7866 Ventas shares for each share of NHP common stock they own. Ventas overall option implied volatility of 22 is below its 26-week average of 28, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Kroger (KR) overall option implied volatility is at 25, according to Track Data, near its 26-week average, suggesting non-directional movement into expected Q4 results on March 3.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Analyst Upgrades

• Sapient (SAPE) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Kroger (KR) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Harman (HAR) to overweight from neutral and Deutsche Bank (DB) to neutral from underweight at JPMorgan.
• Savient (SVNT) to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• LabCorp (LH) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Optimer Pharm (OPTR) and Landstar System (LSTR) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Essex Property Trust (ESS) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Tyson Foods (TSN) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Host Hotels (HST) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• SPX Corp. (SPW) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.

On Tuesday morning, supermarket entity The Kroger Co. (KR) reported earnings for the second quarter. Today, at the time of this writing, shares were higher by just under 1% to $21.47. Volume wasn't so great, to be honest.

I last wrote about the company back in June, when the Q1 stats were released. The price of the stock at that time was $20.71. I guess this investment idea doesn't want to do a lot of work for its shareholders. The chart seems to indicate that institutions are content with playing the stock in sideways fashion, for now at least.

Kroger Co. (KR), the nation's largest traditional grocery retailer, is scheduled to discuss its second-quarter 2010 financial results Tuesday, September 14, in a conference call beginning at 10:00 AM (ET). You can catch a live webcast at the company's website.

During the three months that ended in July, Kroger announced share buybacks and declared a quarterly dividend. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect this Cincinnati-based company to report earnings of 36 cents per share, down from 39 cents per share in the year-ago period. Its revenue is expected to have risen 5.6% from a year ago to $18.7 billion.

Analyst Upgrades

• BofA/Merrill upgraded Eastman Chemical (EMN) to buy from neutral and raised its target to $82 from $80. The analyst upgraded shares based on valuation and expectations for strong earnings from fibers and performance chemicals.
• Bernstein upgraded Hershey (HSY) to market perform from underperform based on strong near-term category growth.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Actuant (ATU) to buy from neutral with a $25 price target following the company's Q3 results.
• Infinera (INFN) was upgraded to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
• CTC Media (CTCM) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Williams (WMB) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman.

When Kroger (KR) CEO David Dillon says that his company can fight Walmart (WMT) on areas outside of price, one has to wonder what he's referring to. As Walmart has shown over the past 18 months (inside of a recession), most of middle-class America cares about one thing at retail: price.

What could Kroger do to compete better with the world's largest retailer, price aside?

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:

• Aeropostale Inc. (ARO) reported better-than-expected Q4 earnings and revenue and offered rosy guidance.
• American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (AEO) higher Q4 earnings matched analysts' estimates, but shares rose afterward.
• AnnTaylor Stores Corp. (ANN) swung to a profit in Q4 even though same-store sales dropped; shares fell.
• Cbeyond Inc. (CBEY) received an analyst's upgrade following its Q4 results and guidance for the full year.
• Children's Place Retail Stores Inc. (PLCE) posted strong Q4 earnings even though same-store sales were flat.

Total sales, without the assistance of fuel transactions, went up 2%. Identical supermarket revenues increased 1.2%. Not too invigorating, certainly, but what about the bottom line? Don't search for comfort there, because per-share profit dropped substantially to 39 cents per diluted share from 53 cents per diluted share in the comparable frame.

Food stamps are pumping up revenue at retailers across the country. Costco (COST), Wal-Mart (WMT) and others are seeing rushes an hour before funds are credited to electronic benefits transfer cards. Wal-Mart's CFO, Tom Schoewe, has noted the trend, telling Reuters, "Once the clock strikes midnight [on the last day of the month] and EBT cards are charged, you can see our results start to tick up."

Spending via EBT is not only increasing, it generally happens quickly. JPMorgan (JPM), which runs EBT programs for more than 20 states, reports that buyers run through 85% of food stamp funds within the first three days of their availability.