Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Has $3.41 Million Stock Holdings in United Natural Foods, Inc. $UNFI

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its stake in United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) by 34.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 90,719 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 23,391 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in United Natural Foods were worth $3,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in United Natural Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $656,000. Highland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in United Natural Foods during the 2nd quarter worth $228,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in United Natural Foods in the third quarter valued at $2,588,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in United Natural Foods during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $442,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of United Natural Foods in the 2nd quarter worth about $364,000. Institutional investors own 87.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on UNFI shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Zacks Research upgraded United Natural Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a research note on Friday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $40.00 price objective on shares of United Natural Foods in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, United Natural Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James C. Pappas bought 2,000 shares of United Natural Foods stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $33.30 per share, with a total value of $66,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 194,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,466,127.40. This trade represents a 1.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Richard Eric Esper sold 4,261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.08, for a total value of $140,953.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 37,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,236,166.52. The trade was a 10.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

United Natural Foods Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE UNFI opened at $37.27 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.26. The firm has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a PE ratio of -22.45 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. United Natural Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.78 and a 52 week high of $43.29.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 2nd. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.17. United Natural Foods had a positive return on equity of 4.35% and a negative net margin of 0.32%.The company had revenue of $7.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.16 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. United Natural Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.500-2.300 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Natural Foods Profile

United Natural Foods, Inc (NYSE: UNFI) is a leading distributor of natural, organic and specialty foods in North America. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, the company has grown through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion to become one of the largest food distributors serving retail, foodservice and e-commerce customers.

UNFI’s core business centers on the procurement, warehousing and distribution of a broad portfolio of products, including fresh produce, groceries, frozen foods, dairy, bakery items, beverages, supplements and household essentials.