Stock Traders Buy High Volume of US Foods Put Options (NYSE:USFD)

US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 20,702 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,455% compared to the typical volume of 1,331 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on USFD shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of US Foods from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on US Foods from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on US Foods from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Barclays increased their price target on US Foods from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target (up previously from $58.00) on shares of US Foods in a research note on Friday, May 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $64.70.

Institutional Trading of US Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of US Foods by 4,441.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 25,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,151,000 after acquiring an additional 24,781 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of US Foods by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 56,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,550,000 after buying an additional 9,751 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of US Foods by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 25,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,179,000 after buying an additional 1,220 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of US Foods by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 14,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $681,000 after buying an additional 1,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in US Foods by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,582,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,863,000 after acquiring an additional 12,594 shares during the period. 98.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

US Foods Stock Performance

USFD opened at $58.50 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $54.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.38 billion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. US Foods has a 12-month low of $35.66 and a 12-month high of $59.79.

US Foods (NYSE:USFD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93. The company had revenue of $9.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.62 billion. US Foods had a net margin of 1.42% and a return on equity of 13.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that US Foods will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

US Foods Company Profile

US Foods Holding Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in marketing, sale, and distribution of fresh, frozen, and dry food and non-food products to foodservice customers in the United States. The company's customers include independently owned single and multi-unit restaurants, regional concepts, national restaurant chains, hospitals, nursing homes, hotels and motels, country clubs, government and military organizations, colleges and universities, and retail locations.