Longbow Finance SA Boosts Position in US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD)

Key Points

• Longbow Finance SA has increased its stake in US Foods Holding Corp. by 24.7%, acquiring an additional 32,949 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total to 166,381 shares.
• US Foods recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.68 per share, missing analyst expectations by $0.01, while revenue increased by 4.5% year-over-year despite not meeting estimates.
• Institutional investors hold a significant majority of US Foods, owning 98.76% of the company's shares, indicating strong confidence in the stock among major investors.

Longbow Finance SA boosted its stake in shares of US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD - Free Report) by 24.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 166,381 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 32,949 shares during the period. US Foods accounts for 1.3% of Longbow Finance SA's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Longbow Finance SA owned approximately 0.07% of US Foods worth $10,891,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of US Foods in the 4th quarter worth about $3,218,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of US Foods by 12.1% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in shares of US Foods in the 4th quarter worth about $7,558,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of US Foods in the 4th quarter worth about $357,000. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of US Foods in the 4th quarter worth about $171,107,000. 98.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on USFD. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of US Foods from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of US Foods from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $89.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of US Foods in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of US Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of US Foods in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other US Foods news, EVP Dirk J. Locascio sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 115,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,206,160. This represents a 6.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

US Foods Trading Up 0.5%

US Foods stock traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $82.24. 3,231,058 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,181,791. US Foods Holding Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $50.49 and a fifty-two week high of $85.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.72, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.41. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $78.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.30. 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 (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 net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 15.58%. The business had revenue of $9.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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.