Verition Fund Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)

Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) by 92.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 37,209 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,914 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in United Natural Foods were worth $626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Private Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 49.5% in the 2nd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,773,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,235,000 after acquiring an additional 587,163 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,267,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,601,000 after purchasing an additional 237,496 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 343,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,494,000 after purchasing an additional 13,165 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 86.6% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 264,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,461,000 after purchasing an additional 122,626 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in United Natural Foods by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 194,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,276,000 after buying an additional 9,916 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at United Natural Foods

In related news, insider Danielle Benedict sold 9,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.10, for a total value of $200,005.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 88,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,949,617.80. The trade was a 9.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNFI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $14.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of United Natural Foods from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of United Natural Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.40.

United Natural Foods Trading Up 20.1 %

NYSE UNFI opened at $29.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of -15.68 and a beta of 0.64. United Natural Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.58 and a 12 month high of $32.20. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $21.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.18. The business had revenue of $7.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.61 billion. United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.36% and a positive return on equity of 0.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.04) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 0.64 earnings per share for the current year.

United Natural Foods Profile

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.