Avalon Trust Co Purchases 139,150 Shares of US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD)

Key Points

• Avalon Trust Co significantly increased its stake in US Foods Holding Corp. by 92,766.7% in Q1, owning approximately 139,300 shares valued at $9.12 million.
• Institutional investors control 98.76% of US Foods' stock, with several firms, including Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group and Allianz Asset Management, also boosting their positions.
• Analysts have recently set new price targets for US Foods, raising JPMorgan's target from $82.00 to $85.00 and Barclays from $85.00 to $95.00, while most ratings remain bullish.

Avalon Trust Co increased its position in shares of US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD - Free Report) by 92,766.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139,300 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 139,150 shares during the quarter. Avalon Trust Co owned approximately 0.06% of US Foods worth $9,119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of US Foods by 25.4% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 15,325 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 3,106 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in US Foods in the first quarter valued at about $91,087,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in US Foods in the first quarter valued at about $1,915,000. Commerce Bank bought a new stake in US Foods during the 1st quarter worth about $47,049,000. Finally, Cordatus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in US Foods during the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. 98.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on USFD shares. 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, July 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on US Foods from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded US Foods from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of US Foods from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of US Foods in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $78.42.

US Foods Price Performance

US Foods stock traded down $7.78 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $76.90. The company had a trading volume of 2,366,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,220,944. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.17. The company has a market cap of $17.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. US Foods Holding Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $50.49 and a fifty-two week high of $85.11.

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

Insider Activity at US Foods

In other US Foods news, EVP Dirk J. Locascio sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,125,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 115,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,630,775. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

US Foods Profile

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.