Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.22 Million in United Natural Foods, Inc. $UNFI

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in United Natural Foods in the first quarter, acquiring 27,000 shares worth about $1.22 million.
• United Natural Foods reported quarterly EPS of $0.77, missing analyst estimates, while revenue came in at $7.72 billion, also below expectations and down 4.2% year over year.
• Analysts remain mixed on the stock: the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $46.38, though Wells Fargo recently upgraded UNFI to Overweight and several firms lifted targets.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 27,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,217,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in United Natural Foods by 0.8% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,664,356 shares of the company's stock worth $137,824,000 after purchasing an additional 28,119 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,389,186 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,444,000 after buying an additional 23,967 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 155.1% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,732,060 shares of the company's stock worth $78,047,000 after buying an additional 1,053,081 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468,591 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,456,000 after buying an additional 41,674 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 40.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,300,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,922,000 after buying an additional 374,487 shares during the period. 87.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Natural Foods Stock Up 0.1%

United Natural Foods stock opened at $45.63 on Friday. United Natural Foods, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.12 and a fifty-two week high of $57.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $50.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.88. The company has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of -69.14 and a beta of 0.83.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 9th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.04). United Natural Foods had a positive return on equity of 7.42% and a negative net margin of 0.12%.The firm had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. United Natural Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.400-2.600 EPS. Research analysts expect that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on UNFI shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on United Natural Foods from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded United Natural Foods from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on United Natural Foods from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded United Natural Foods from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of United Natural Foods in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Three research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Natural Foods

In other United Natural Foods news, insider Mark Bushway sold 10,000 shares of United Natural Foods stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.56, for a total value of $515,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,635,695.64. The trade was a 16.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Danielle Benedict sold 4,807 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total transaction of $249,964.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 98,470 shares in the company, valued at $5,120,440. This trade represents a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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