United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the ten research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $43.6250.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on UNFI. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of United Natural Foods from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Zacks Research lowered United Natural Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded United Natural Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th.

Insider Transactions at United Natural Foods

In other news, insider Danielle Benedict sold 4,807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total value of $249,964.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 98,470 shares in the company, valued at $5,120,440. This represents a 4.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Natural Foods

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,664,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,824,000 after buying an additional 28,119 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 5.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,746,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,307,000 after acquiring an additional 142,485 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,389,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,444,000 after acquiring an additional 23,967 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 155.1% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,732,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in United Natural Foods by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,456,000 after acquiring an additional 41,674 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.63% of the company’s stock.

United Natural Foods Price Performance

Shares of UNFI opened at $49.24 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $46.73 and its 200 day moving average is $39.95. United Natural Foods has a 12-month low of $20.78 and a 12-month high of $53.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.88 and a beta of 0.82.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.11. United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.25% and a positive return on equity of 6.05%. The business had revenue of $7.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. United Natural Foods’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. United Natural Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.300-2.700 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that United Natural Foods will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.