718,737 Shares in US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD) Acquired by Commerce Bank

Key Points

• Commerce Bank acquired 718,737 shares of US Foods Holding Corp. for approximately $47 million, representing a 0.31% stake in the company.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about US Foods, with a consensus "Buy" rating and an average price target of $78.42 following multiple upgrades from firms like UBS and Barclays.
• US Foods reported earnings of $0.68 EPS for the last quarter, slightly missing analyst expectations, while revenue increased 4.5% year-over-year.

Commerce Bank bought a new position in shares of US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 718,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,049,000. Commerce Bank owned 0.31% of US Foods at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of US Foods by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 108,598 shares of the company's stock worth $7,326,000 after acquiring an additional 11,735 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in US Foods by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 33,637 shares of the company's stock worth $2,269,000 after purchasing an additional 3,257 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in US Foods by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 11,029 shares of the company's stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 761 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in US Foods by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 13,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $907,000 after buying an additional 1,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of US Foods by 172.4% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,449 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 917 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

USFD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup began coverage on shares of US Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of US Foods from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Barclays lifted their target price on US Foods from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on US Foods from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $89.00 price target (up previously from $84.00) on shares of US Foods in a report on Monday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, US Foods presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $78.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Dirk J. Locascio sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,125,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 115,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,630,775. This represents a 11.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

US Foods Price Performance

Shares of US Foods stock opened at $83.33 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $78.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.62. US Foods Holding Corp. has a one year low of $50.49 and a one year high of $85.11. The stock has a market cap of $19.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.17.

US Foods (NYSE:USFD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.01). US Foods had a return on equity of 15.58% and a net margin of 1.38%. The firm had revenue of $9.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that US Foods Holding Corp. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

About US Foods

US Foods Holding Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in marketing, sale, and distribution of fresh, frozen, and dry food and non-food products to foodservice customers in the United States. The company's customers include independently owned single and multi-unit restaurants, regional concepts, national restaurant chains, hospitals, nursing homes, hotels and motels, country clubs, government and military organizations, colleges and universities, and retail locations.

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