US Foods (NYSE:USFD) Earns Equal Weight Rating from Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Analysts at Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of US Foods (NYSE:USFD) in a report issued on Tuesday. The firm set an “equal weight” rating on the stock.

USFD has been the topic of several other research reports. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of US Foods from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of US Foods from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of US Foods in a report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of US Foods in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on US Foods from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.50.

US Foods Price Performance

Shares of US Foods stock traded down $1.72 on Tuesday, hitting $84.00. 339,262 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,510,156. US Foods has a 1-year low of $57.36 and a 1-year high of $85.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $76.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.43.

US Foods (NYSE:USFD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. US Foods had a return on equity of 17.71% and a net margin of 1.43%.The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that US Foods will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Steven Guberman sold 58,632 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.00, for a total value of $4,221,504.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 113,410 shares in the company, valued at $8,165,520. The trade was a 34.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of US Foods

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of US Foods by 303.7% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 327 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in shares of US Foods in the third quarter worth $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of US Foods by 120.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 482 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in US Foods during the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, MAI Capital Management boosted its stake in US Foods by 155.6% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. 98.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About US Foods

US Foods (NYSE: USFD) is a leading foodservice distributor in the United States that supplies a wide range of products and services to professional food operators. The company provides fresh, frozen and dry food items as well as non-food restaurant supplies and kitchen equipment. Its customer base includes independent restaurants, multi-unit chains, healthcare and senior living facilities, hospitality businesses, government and educational institutions, and other foodservice operators.

Beyond commodity and branded food products, US Foods offers value-added solutions designed to help customers run their businesses.