United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on United Natural Foods from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price target on shares of United Natural Foods in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of United Natural Foods in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on United Natural Foods from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.38.

United Natural Foods Stock Performance

Shares of UNFI opened at $45.63 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of -69.14 and a beta of 0.83. 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 has a 52-week low of $22.12 and a 52-week high of $57.02.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 9th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.79 billion. United Natural Foods had a positive return on equity of 7.42% and a negative net margin of 0.12%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. United Natural Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.400-2.600 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Natural Foods will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Natural Foods news, insider Mark Bushway sold 10,000 shares of United Natural Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.56, for a total value of $515,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 51,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,635,695.64. The trade was a 16.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 98,470 shares in the company, valued at $5,120,440. This represents a 4.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Natural Foods

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UNFI. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 0.8% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,664,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,824,000 after purchasing an additional 28,119 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,389,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,444,000 after purchasing an additional 23,967 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $78,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053,081 shares during the period. 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in United Natural Foods by 40.4% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,300,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,922,000 after buying an additional 374,487 shares in the last quarter. 87.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.