United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $38.7778.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of United Natural Foods in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on United Natural Foods from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 19th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $40.00 target price on shares of United Natural Foods in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a report on Friday, January 9th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James C. Pappas acquired 2,000 shares of United Natural Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $33.30 per share, with a total value of $66,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 194,178 shares in the company, valued at $6,466,127.40. This trade represents a 1.04% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard Eric Esper sold 4,261 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.08, for a total value of $140,953.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 37,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,236,166.52. The trade was a 10.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Natural Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $656,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in United Natural Foods by 52.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 111,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,064,000 after buying an additional 38,504 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in United Natural Foods by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 35,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $962,000 after buying an additional 1,703 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in United Natural Foods by 58.1% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 332,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,120,000 after buying an additional 122,412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in United Natural Foods by 10.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 625,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,132,000 after buying an additional 58,705 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.63% of the company’s stock.

United Natural Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNFI opened at $40.21 on Friday. United Natural Foods has a one year low of $20.78 and a one year high of $43.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.22 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 1.38.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 2nd. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $7.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.91 billion. United Natural Foods had a positive return on equity of 4.35% and a negative net margin of 0.32%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.16 earnings per share. United Natural Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.500-2.300 EPS. On average, analysts predict that United Natural Foods will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

United Natural Foods Company 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.