Short Interest in US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD) Grows By 36.0%

US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,400,000 shares, an increase of 36.0% from the February 13th total of 3,970,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,180,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

US Foods Price Performance

USFD traded up $1.82 on Friday, reaching $65.50. The company had a trading volume of 1,640,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,854,853. US Foods has a 52-week low of $49.65 and a 52-week high of $73.19. The company has a market cap of $15.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.21. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.98.

US Foods (NYSE:USFD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.01). US Foods had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 15.03%. The company had revenue of $9.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.47 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that US Foods will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at US Foods

In other US Foods news, Director David W. Bullock bought 4,000 shares of US Foods stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $71.06 per share, for a total transaction of $284,240.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $319,770. This trade represents a 800.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On US Foods

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in USFD. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in US Foods by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 17,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,103,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of US Foods by 66,100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 662 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in shares of US Foods by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 23,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 4,237 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of US Foods by 72.0% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc purchased a new position in US Foods in the 3rd quarter worth $204,000. Institutional investors own 98.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

USFD has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of US Foods from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays raised their price target on US Foods from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Melius Research upgraded US Foods to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on US Foods from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on US Foods from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $70.33.

US Foods Company Profile

US Foods Holding Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in marketing, sale, and distribution of fresh, frozen, and dry food and non-food products to foodservice customers in the United States. The company's customers include independently owned single and multi-unit restaurants, regional concepts, national restaurant chains, hospitals, nursing homes, hotels and motels, country clubs, government and military organizations, colleges and universities, and retail locations.