United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, CL King raised United Natural Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.50.

United Natural Foods Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE UNFI opened at $24.63 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.91. United Natural Foods has a 52 week low of $8.58 and a 52 week high of $34.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.69 and a beta of 1.08.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.07 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that United Natural Foods will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Natural Foods

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UNFI. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in 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 worth $96,450,000 after buying an additional 314,587 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 2,886,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,842,000 after acquiring an additional 110,608 shares during the period. 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 acquiring an additional 34,522 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in 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 during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in United Natural Foods by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,358,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,852,000 after purchasing an additional 14,928 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.63% of the company’s stock.

United Natural Foods Company Profile

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.