Vestcor Inc Raises Holdings in US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD)

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc increased its stake in US Foods Holding Corp. by 24% in the first quarter, purchasing an additional 4,840 shares, bringing its total holdings to 25,040 shares valued at approximately $1.64 million.
• Several large investors, including LPL Financial and Pictet Asset Management, have also increased their positions in US Foods, contributing to institutional investors owning 98.76% of the company's stock.
• Wall Street analysts have a positive outlook on US Foods with multiple firms issuing "buy" ratings and raising target prices, reflecting strong investor confidence despite a slight miss in quarterly earnings.

Vestcor Inc lifted its holdings in US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD - Free Report) by 24.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,040 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,840 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc's holdings in US Foods were worth $1,639,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of USFD. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of US Foods by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,136,356 shares of the company's stock valued at $144,119,000 after purchasing an additional 36,307 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of US Foods by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,029,419 shares of the company's stock worth $136,905,000 after buying an additional 405,871 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in US Foods by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 1,636,092 shares of the company's stock valued at $110,371,000 after purchasing an additional 53,460 shares during the last quarter. Interval Partners LP raised its position in US Foods by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 1,306,198 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,116,000 after purchasing an additional 31,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of US Foods by 40.7% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,190,064 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,282,000 after acquiring an additional 344,542 shares in the last quarter. 98.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on USFD shares. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $89.00 target price (up from $84.00) on shares of US Foods in a report on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of US Foods from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised US Foods from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of US Foods in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of US Foods from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $78.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other US Foods news, EVP Dirk J. Locascio sold 7,500 shares of US Foods stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 115,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,206,160. The trade was a 6.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

US Foods Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:USFD traded down $1.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $82.14. The company had a trading volume of 878,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,201,195. The company has a market capitalization of $19.00 billion, a PE ratio of 37.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.44. US Foods Holding Corp. has a one year low of $50.49 and a one year high of $85.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $79.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

US Foods (NYSE:USFD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $9.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that US Foods Holding Corp. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

US Foods Company Profile

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.