United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $25.34 and last traded at $24.87, with a volume of 101517 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $24.83.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on UNFI shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $14.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Northcoast Research raised United Natural Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on United Natural Foods from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on United Natural Foods from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.40.

United Natural Foods Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $20.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.14 and a beta of 0.62.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.09. The business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.94 billion. United Natural Foods had a positive return on equity of 0.54% and a negative net margin of 0.36%. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 0.64 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Natural Foods news, insider Danielle Benedict sold 9,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.10, for a total transaction of $200,005.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 88,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,949,617.80. This trade represents a 9.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of United Natural Foods in the third quarter valued at approximately $595,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in United Natural Foods by 86.6% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 264,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,461,000 after acquiring an additional 122,626 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in United Natural Foods by 4.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,587,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,175,000 after purchasing an additional 321,020 shares in the last quarter. Aristeia Capital L.L.C. purchased a new position in United Natural Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at about $661,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Natural Foods in the third quarter worth approximately $548,000. 87.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Natural Foods Company Profile

United Natural Foods, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes natural, organic, specialty, produce, and conventional grocery and non-food products in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Wholesale and Retail. The company offers grocery and general merchandise, produce, perishables and frozen foods, wellness and personal care items, and bulk and foodservice products.