US Foods (NYSE:USFD) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of US Foods (NYSE:USFD – Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning. The firm issued a strong-buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on USFD. Credit Suisse Group raised their price target on shares of US Foods from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. TheStreet raised shares of US Foods from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 6th. Barclays raised shares of US Foods from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and raised their price target for the company from $34.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of US Foods to $38.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of US Foods from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, US Foods presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $44.90.

US Foods Stock Performance

Shares of US Foods stock opened at $35.06 on Thursday. US Foods has a fifty-two week low of $25.49 and a fifty-two week high of $41.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.06 and a beta of 1.48. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $37.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.62.

US Foods (NYSE:USFD – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. US Foods had a net margin of 0.78% and a return on equity of 13.22%. The firm had revenue of $8.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that US Foods will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other US Foods news, EVP Jay Kvasnicka sold 2,590 shares of US Foods stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total value of $98,445.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,396,492.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other US Foods news, major shareholder Kkr Group Partnership L.P. sold 7,600,000 shares of US Foods stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total value of $295,108,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jay Kvasnicka sold 2,590 shares of US Foods stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total transaction of $98,445.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,396,492.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,670,152 shares of company stock valued at $297,784,317 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in USFD. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of US Foods by 3.9% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 37,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after buying an additional 1,411 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of US Foods by 9.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 938,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,311,000 after buying an additional 80,621 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of US Foods by 16.3% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 1,094 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of US Foods during the first quarter valued at about $215,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in US Foods by 27.8% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 15,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 3,421 shares during the last quarter. 97.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

US Foods Company Profile

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US Foods Holding Corp. operates as a foodservice distributor. Its products include frozen and dry food and non-food products to foodservice customers throughout the U.S. The company offers services under brands Chef’s Line, del Pasado, Glenview Farms, Cattleman’s Selection, Cross Valley Farms, Harbor Banks, Hilltop Hearth, Devonshire, and Metro Deli.