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

Shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.3750.

UNFI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised United Natural Foods from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company 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 report on Wednesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on United Natural Foods from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of United Natural Foods in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on United Natural Foods from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th.

United Natural Foods Stock Performance

NYSE:UNFI opened at $51.44 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $49.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.81. United Natural Foods has a twelve month low of $21.27 and a twelve month high of $57.02. The stock has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -77.95 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 9th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.04). United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.12% and a positive return on equity of 7.42%. The business had revenue of $7.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. United Natural Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.400-2.600 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that United Natural Foods will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at United Natural Foods

In other news, insider Danielle Benedict sold 4,807 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total transaction of $249,964.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 98,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,120,440. This represents a 4.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Natural Foods

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased 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 valued at $137,824,000 after purchasing an additional 28,119 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in United Natural Foods by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,746,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,307,000 after purchasing an additional 142,485 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in United Natural Foods by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,389,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,444,000 after purchasing an additional 23,967 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in United Natural Foods by 155.1% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,732,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053,081 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in United Natural Foods by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,456,000 after purchasing an additional 41,674 shares during the period. 87.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About United Natural Foods

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.