United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Tuesday.

UNFI has been the subject of several other research reports. CL King raised shares of United Natural Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on United Natural Foods from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on United Natural Foods from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.50.

United Natural Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNFI opened at $24.06 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of -15.32 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $28.07 and a 200-day moving average of $25.86. United Natural Foods has a 12 month low of $8.58 and a 12 month high of $34.76.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.96 billion. United Natural Foods had a positive return on equity of 1.27% and a negative net margin of 0.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.07 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that United Natural Foods will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Natural Foods

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in United Natural Foods by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 931 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 15,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 46.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in United Natural Foods by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in United Natural Foods by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 31,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $873,000 after purchasing an additional 834 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, together with its subsidiaries, distributes natural, organic, specialty, produce, and conventional grocery and non-food products in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Wholesale and Retail. The company offers grocery and general merchandise, produce, perishables and frozen foods, wellness and personal care items, and bulk and foodservice products.