United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $25.94, but opened at $25.11. United Natural Foods shares last traded at $25.05, with a volume of 743,147 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on UNFI. CL King upgraded United Natural Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of United Natural Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on United Natural Foods from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Natural Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.50.

United Natural Foods Trading Down 7.1%

The business has a 50-day moving average of $27.10 and a 200 day moving average of $27.81. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of -15.35 and a beta of 0.90. 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 (NYSE:UNFI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 10th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.22. United Natural Foods had a positive return on equity of 1.27% and a negative net margin of 0.30%. The firm had revenue of $8.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Natural Foods

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 188,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,152,000 after acquiring an additional 29,357 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Natural Foods in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $324,000. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 368.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 62,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,813,000 after buying an additional 49,427 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Natural Foods during the fourth quarter worth approximately $656,000. Finally, Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in United Natural Foods during the 4th quarter worth $331,000. 87.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.