United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $26.73, but opened at $26.16. United Natural Foods shares last traded at $26.15, with a volume of 27,890 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on UNFI. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of United Natural Foods from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of United Natural Foods from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of United Natural Foods from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, CL King raised shares of United Natural Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.50.

United Natural Foods Stock Down 1.3 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $29.49 and its 200 day moving average is $24.46. The company has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.65 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

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

Institutional Trading of United Natural Foods

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 368.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 62,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 49,427 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.5% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. acquired a new position in shares of United Natural Foods in the 3rd quarter valued at $595,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 118.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 177,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,993,000 after acquiring an additional 96,341 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Natural Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $656,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.63% of the company’s stock.

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.