United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.50.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on United Natural Foods from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised United Natural Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, CL King raised United Natural Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th.

United Natural Foods Trading Up 0.2%

UNFI opened at $28.54 on Thursday. United Natural Foods has a 12 month low of $10.23 and a 12 month high of $34.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.18 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.70.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.07 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that United Natural Foods will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of United Natural Foods

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNFI. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in United Natural Foods by 207.0% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,357,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,065,000 after acquiring an additional 915,177 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in United Natural Foods during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $24,171,000. Senvest Management LLC purchased a new stake in United Natural Foods during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $18,161,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,018,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,118,000 after buying an additional 442,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 162.7% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 587,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,050,000 after buying an additional 363,962 shares in the last quarter. 87.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.