Towle & Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)

Towle & Co. lessened its position in United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI - Free Report) by 19.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 622,302 shares of the company's stock after selling 154,164 shares during the quarter. United Natural Foods accounts for approximately 2.9% of Towle & Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Towle & Co. owned about 1.04% of United Natural Foods worth $16,995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in United Natural Foods in the fourth quarter valued at $324,000. Amundi increased its stake in United Natural Foods by 368.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 62,830 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,813,000 after acquiring an additional 49,427 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in United Natural Foods by 118.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 177,937 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,993,000 after acquiring an additional 96,341 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in United Natural Foods in the fourth quarter valued at $656,000. Finally, Adero Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of United Natural Foods during the fourth quarter valued at about $243,000. Institutional investors own 87.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on United Natural Foods from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. CL King raised United Natural Foods from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $33.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised United Natural Foods from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Natural Foods has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $27.50.

United Natural Foods Stock Down 0.7%

UNFI traded down $0.21 on Thursday, hitting $29.41. The company had a trading volume of 439,634 shares, compared to its average volume of 700,672. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.53. United Natural Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.46 and a 52-week high of $34.76. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.73 and a beta of 1.08.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.04. United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.30% and a positive return on equity of 1.27%. The business had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.07 earnings per share. United Natural Foods's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Natural Foods Profile

United Natural Foods, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes natural, organic, specialty, produce, and conventional grocery and non-food products in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Wholesale and Retail. The company offers grocery and general merchandise, produce, perishables and frozen foods, wellness and personal care items, and bulk and foodservice products.