Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $4.71 Million Stock Position in United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) by 4.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 280,270 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,855 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in United Natural Foods were worth $4,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in UNFI. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in United Natural Foods by 12.2% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Natural Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in United Natural Foods during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $166,000. Private Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in United Natural Foods by 49.5% during the second quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,773,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,235,000 after purchasing an additional 587,163 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in United Natural Foods by 27.3% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 65,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $863,000 after purchasing an additional 14,140 shares during the period. 87.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of United Natural Foods from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on United Natural Foods from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on United Natural Foods from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of United Natural Foods from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.60.

United Natural Foods Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of United Natural Foods stock opened at $27.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of -17.57 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.48. United Natural Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.58 and a 52-week high of $32.20.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.18. United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.30% and a positive return on equity of 1.27%. The company had revenue of $7.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.61 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.04) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at United Natural Foods

In other news, insider Danielle Benedict sold 9,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.10, for a total value of $200,005.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 88,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,949,617.80. This represents a 9.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.10% 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.