United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a research report on Friday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of United Natural Foods from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of United Natural Foods from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of United Natural Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.63.

United Natural Foods Stock Performance

UNFI opened at $41.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of -31.92 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. United Natural Foods has a 1 year low of $20.78 and a 1 year high of $43.29. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.01.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.11. United Natural Foods had a positive return on equity of 6.05% and a negative net margin of 0.25%.The business had revenue of $7.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. United Natural Foods’s revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. United Natural Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.300-2.700 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that United Natural Foods will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at United Natural Foods

In related news, CAO Richard Eric Esper sold 4,261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.08, for a total transaction of $140,953.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 37,369 shares in the company, valued at $1,236,166.52. This represents a 10.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Louis Anthony Martin sold 9,439 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.67, for a total transaction of $327,250.13. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 81,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,816,382.78. This represents a 10.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of United Natural Foods

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in United Natural Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in United Natural Foods during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in United Natural Foods by 4,266.7% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in United Natural Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 84.2% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.63% of the company’s stock.

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.