Vanguard Group Inc. Has $241.75 Million Stock Holdings in United Natural Foods, Inc. $UNFI

Key Points

• Vanguard Group trimmed its stake in United Natural Foods by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, but still held 7.18 million shares valued at about $241.75 million, or roughly 11.78% of the company.
• Several analysts have updated their views on UNFI, with Wells Fargo upgrading the stock to overweight and raising its target to $56, while the overall consensus remains Hold with an average price target of $43.63.
• United Natural Foods reported better-than-expected EPS of $0.62 in its latest quarter, though revenue came in below estimates and was down 2.6% year over year; the stock recently traded near its 52-week high of $52.68.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its position in United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI - Free Report) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,179,928 shares of the company's stock after selling 167,877 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.78% of United Natural Foods worth $241,748,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 0.8% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,746,073 shares of the company's stock worth $103,307,000 after purchasing an additional 142,485 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased 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 worth $48,922,000 after purchasing an additional 374,487 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 12,660.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 678,979 shares of the company's stock worth $22,861,000 after purchasing an additional 673,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 625,481 shares of the company's stock worth $17,132,000 after purchasing an additional 58,705 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on UNFI shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised United Natural Foods from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on United Natural Foods from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on United Natural Foods from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded United Natural Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $43.63.

United Natural Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNFI opened at $52.23 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.78 and a 12 month high of $52.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.97 and a 200-day moving average of $39.04. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -40.18 and a beta of 0.82.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $7.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm'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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at United Natural Foods

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