United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Receives “Neutral” Rating from Guggenheim

Guggenheim reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on United Natural Foods from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Northcoast Research raised United Natural Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on United Natural Foods from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price objective 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. Finally, 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 report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.60.

United Natural Foods Stock Performance

United Natural Foods stock opened at $28.47 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. United Natural Foods has a 12-month low of $8.58 and a 12-month high of $32.20. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $22.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.00.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.18. The company 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 0.30% and a positive return on equity of 1.27%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.04) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that United Natural Foods will post 0.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at United Natural Foods

In other United Natural Foods news, insider Danielle Benedict sold 15,152 shares of United Natural Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.78, for a total value of $299,706.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,986,366.94. The trade was a 13.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Private Management Group Inc. grew its stake in United Natural Foods by 49.5% in the second 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 period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in 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 period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in United Natural Foods by 86.6% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 264,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,461,000 after purchasing an additional 122,626 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in United Natural Foods by 352.2% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 108,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,820,000 after buying an additional 84,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of United Natural Foods in the second quarter valued at $917,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.63% of the company’s stock.

United Natural Foods Company 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.