United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) Receives $27.50 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.50.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on UNFI shares. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of United Natural Foods from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. 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. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, CL King raised United Natural Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th.

United Natural Foods Stock Performance

UNFI opened at $26.67 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.26 and a 200-day moving average of $24.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.48. United Natural Foods has a 52-week low of $8.58 and a 52-week high of $34.76. The company has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of -16.99 and a beta of 0.56.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.04. United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.30% and a positive return on equity of 1.27%. The business had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.07 earnings per share. United Natural Foods’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that United Natural Foods will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Amundi increased its stake in United Natural Foods by 368.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 62,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,813,000 after acquiring an additional 49,427 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,383,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,094,000 after purchasing an additional 34,522 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 118.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 177,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,993,000 after buying an additional 96,341 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in United Natural Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $656,000. Finally, Adero Partners LLC acquired a new stake in United Natural Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $243,000. 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.