United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on UNFI. UBS Group lifted their price target on United Natural Foods from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a report on Monday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of United Natural Foods in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Zacks Research downgraded United Natural Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on United Natural Foods from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.29.

United Natural Foods Stock Performance

Shares of UNFI opened at $46.84 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $47.34 and a 200-day moving average of $47.27. The company has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.95 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.29. United Natural Foods has a 1 year low of $28.71 and a 1 year high of $57.02.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 8th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.71 billion. United Natural Foods had a net margin of 0.27% and a return on equity of 10.51%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.11) EPS. United Natural Foods has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.000-3.500 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that United Natural Foods will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Natural Foods

In other news, insider Mark Bushway sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.56, for a total value of $515,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,119 shares in the company, valued at $2,635,695.64. This trade represents a 16.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Natural Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNFI. Core Capital Management & Research inc. bought a new position in United Natural Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Natural Foods in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in shares of United Natural Foods in the 2nd quarter worth $104,000. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 0.6% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 51,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,343,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 1,489.8% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 193,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,834,000 after buying an additional 181,263 shares during the period. 87.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About United Natural Foods

United Natural Foods, Inc (NYSE: UNFI) is a distributor of natural, organic, specialty, fresh and conventional food products in the United States and Canada. The company supplies grocery retailers, independent stores, supermarkets, e-commerce businesses, foodservice operators and other customers with a broad range of products.

UNFI’s offerings include produce, perishables, center-store groceries, refrigerated and frozen foods, beverages, supplements, personal-care products and household items.