The shares of Whole Foods (WFM) are climbing after the company announced in-line results, raised its dividend, appointed five new board members and a new chairman, and announced three-year financial targets. Whole Foods also named Keith Manbeck, who previously served as a senior VP at Kohl's, as its new CFO. Wells Fargo reacted positively to the news, upgrading the stock, while Jefferies said the actions buy the company time but that it remains cautious on the stock.

RESULTS, DIVIDEND: Whole Foods' second quarter profits and revenue were in-line with analysts' consensus estimates. The company said that it expects its fiscal 2017 earnings per share to come in at $1.30 or more, which is a reduction from its previous outlook of "at least" $1.33 per share. The consensus outlook was $1.33. The supermarket chain expects its same-store sales to come in at negative 2.5% or better. Additionally, Whole Foods increased its quarterly dividend by 29% to 18c per share and authorized a new $1.25B share repurchase program.

BOARD CHANGES: Whole Foods announced that Gabrielle Sulzberger, who has been on its board since 2003, would become its chairman, stating that her "years serving on public company boards and experience as a chief financial officer provide Whole Foods Market with financial, M&A and risk assessment expertise." The company also appointed five new board members. Among the new board members are Mary Ellen Coe, who is a Google (GOOG, GOOGL) executive and was named the chair of the board's Nominating & Governance Committee.

TARGETS: Whole Foods announced last night that it expects to return to positive comparable store sales and earnings growth by the end of fiscal year 2018. In addition, based on the implementation of new and accelerated initiatives, the company sees total sales of over $18B in FY20. The company predicted that its sales, general and administrative costs would be less than 27% of its sales in 2020, down from 28.5% in 2016. Additionally, the company expects its EBITDA margin to exceed 9.5% in 2020, up from 8.6% last year, and it predicted that its 2020 operating cash flow would exceed $1.2B, up from $1.1B last year. Whole Foods said that it would seek to launch its successful reward program in all of its stores by the end of this year, use technology to enhance its purchasing program. and realize $300M in additional cost savings by the end of fiscal 2020.

ANALYST REACTION: Wells Fargo analyst Zachary Fadem upgraded Whole foods to Outperform from Market Perform. The company's new plan has potential, while the involvement of activist investor JANA Partners should ensure that the company carries out the initiative, he stated. Moreover, if the company's results don't improve as planned, it can be sold, he believes. Whole Foods' new board members are "impressive," and the moves announced yesterday indicate that it is "serious about improving results and shareholder value," according to the analyst. He increased his price target on the stock to $42. Jefferies analyst Christopher Mandeville increased his price target on Whole Foods to $39 from $33, saying the stock poses little risk in the near-term, as the moves made by the company "could appease investors for now and buy management time to execute on its strategy." However, the company still has to make significant progress, and its competition will definitely respond, added the analyst, who kept a Hold rating on the stock.

PRICE ACTION: In morning trading, Whole Foods rose 3% to $37.40.