Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Purchases New Holdings in United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA acquired a new position in shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 8,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,383,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,094,000 after buying an additional 34,522 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in United Natural Foods by 28.1% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,018,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,118,000 after acquiring an additional 442,574 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in United Natural Foods by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,358,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,852,000 after acquiring an additional 14,928 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in United Natural Foods by 146.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 439,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,992,000 after acquiring an additional 261,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 431,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,797,000 after purchasing an additional 4,260 shares during the period. 87.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Natural Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of United Natural Foods from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of United Natural Foods from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their target price on United Natural Foods from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.50.

United Natural Foods Stock Down 5.5 %

UNFI stock opened at $23.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of -15.16 and a beta of 1.08. United Natural Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.58 and a 1 year high of $34.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.96 billion. United Natural Foods had a positive return on equity of 1.27% and a negative net margin of 0.30%. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.07 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About United Natural Foods

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.