Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in United Natural Foods, Inc. $UNFI

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors cut its UNFI stake by 25.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 23,342 shares and leaving it with 67,377 shares valued at about $2.27 million.
• Other institutional investors were mixed: some increased holdings while others initiated new positions, and institutions now own 87.63% of United Natural Foods’ stock.
• Analysts remain cautious overall, with a consensus Hold rating and average target price of $43.63; UNFI recently beat EPS expectations, though revenue came in below estimates and the stock traded near its 52-week high at $52.61.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI - Free Report) by 25.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,377 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,342 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned 0.11% of United Natural Foods worth $2,269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nia Impact Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in United Natural Foods by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 98,588 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,319,000 after acquiring an additional 19,004 shares during the period. Optimize Financial Inc boosted its holdings in United Natural Foods by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 20,963 shares of the company's stock valued at $706,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in United Natural Foods during the 4th quarter valued at $314,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new position in United Natural Foods during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in United Natural Foods by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,485 shares of the company's stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNFI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research cut United Natural Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on United Natural Foods from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen cut United Natural Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on United Natural Foods from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United Natural Foods presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $43.63.

United Natural Foods Price Performance

Shares of UNFI stock opened at $52.61 on Friday. United Natural Foods, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.78 and a twelve month high of $53.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.47 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.11 billion. United Natural Foods had a positive return on equity of 6.05% and a negative net margin of 0.25%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. United Natural Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.300-2.700 EPS. On average, analysts predict that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at United Natural Foods

In other news, insider Danielle Benedict sold 4,807 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total value of $249,964.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 98,470 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,120,440. The trade was a 4.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

United Natural Foods Profile

United Natural Foods, Inc NYSE: UNFI is a leading distributor of natural, organic and specialty foods in North America. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, the company has grown through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion to become one of the largest food distributors serving retail, foodservice and e-commerce customers.

UNFI's core business centers on the procurement, warehousing and distribution of a broad portfolio of products, including fresh produce, groceries, frozen foods, dairy, bakery items, beverages, supplements and household essentials.

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