US Foods (NYSE:USFD) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of US Foods (NYSE:USFD) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday.

USFD has been the topic of a number of other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of US Foods in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of US Foods in a research 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.00.

US Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:USFD opened at $74.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.09, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $74.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. US Foods has a twelve month low of $57.36 and a twelve month high of $85.11.

US Foods (NYSE:USFD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $10.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. US Foods had a return on equity of 17.71% and a net margin of 1.43%.US Foods’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that US Foods will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at US Foods

In other news, insider Steven Guberman sold 58,632 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 113,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,165,520. This represents a 34.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On US Foods

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