United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on UNFI. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on United Natural Foods from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on United Natural Foods from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on United Natural Foods from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research downgraded United Natural Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.63.

United Natural Foods Price Performance

Shares of UNFI opened at $41.67 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.05 and a beta of 1.00. United Natural Foods has a fifty-two week low of $20.78 and a fifty-two week high of $43.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $37.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.92.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Richard Eric Esper sold 4,261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.08, for a total value of $140,953.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 37,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,236,166.52. This represents a 10.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James C. Pappas bought 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $33.76 per share, for a total transaction of $506,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 192,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,487,929.28. The trade was a 8.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Natural Foods

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UNFI. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,664,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,824,000 after purchasing an additional 28,119 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in United Natural Foods by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,746,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,307,000 after buying an additional 142,485 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in United Natural Foods by 20.7% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,544,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,308,000 after buying an additional 436,680 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in United Natural Foods by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,389,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,444,000 after buying an additional 23,967 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in United Natural Foods by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,456,000 after buying an additional 41,674 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.63% of the company’s stock.

United Natural Foods Company Profile

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.