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

Shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI – Get Rating) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $47.17.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on UNFI. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 29th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Natural Foods news, CFO John W. Howard sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.62, for a total transaction of $298,340.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 117,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,014,157.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO John W. Howard sold 7,000 shares of United Natural Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.62, for a total transaction of $298,340.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 117,648 shares in the company, valued at $5,014,157.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Christopher P. Testa sold 27,931 shares of United Natural Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $1,132,322.74. Following the sale, the president now owns 124,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,061,337.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,681 shares of company stock worth $1,930,613. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Natural Foods

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UNFI. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in shares of United Natural Foods during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 163.9% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 307.9% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 28.3% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Natural Foods in the third quarter valued at $54,000. Institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

United Natural Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNFI opened at $42.63 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 1.11. United Natural Foods has a 52-week low of $32.90 and a 52-week high of $49.56.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 7th. The company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). United Natural Foods had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 16.02%. The company had revenue of $7.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.54 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that United Natural Foods will post 4.96 EPS for the current year.

About United Natural Foods

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United Natural Foods, Inc engages in the distribution of natural, organic, and specialty foods and non-food products. The firm operates through the following segments: Wholesale and Retail. The Wholesale segment is engaged in the national distribution of natural, organic, specialty, produce, and conventional grocery and non-food products, and providing retail services in the United States and Canada.