United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $26.40.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on UNFI shares. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of United Natural Foods from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a research report on Thursday, December 12th.

United Natural Foods Stock Performance

NYSE:UNFI opened at $28.02 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $29.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.85 and a beta of 0.62. United Natural Foods has a twelve month low of $8.58 and a twelve month high of $34.76.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $7.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.61 billion. United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.30% and a positive return on equity of 1.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that United Natural Foods will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Natural Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,531,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,450,000 after acquiring an additional 314,587 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 2,886,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,842,000 after purchasing an additional 110,608 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 valued at $40,094,000 after purchasing an additional 34,522 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,018,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,118,000 after purchasing an additional 442,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,358,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,852,000 after purchasing an additional 14,928 shares in the last quarter. 87.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.