Performance Food Group (NYSE:PFGC) Sets New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Performance Food Group shares reached a new 52-week high of $101.22 amid high trading volume, indicating strong market interest.
• Analysts have varying outlooks on the stock; Citigroup and Sanford C. Bernstein set target prices of $121.00 and $112.00 respectively, while other analysts have lower price targets, contributing to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Insider trading activity showed significant sales, with two executives selling large amounts of shares, indicating potential caution despite the stock's upward trend.

Performance Food Group Company (NYSE:PFGC - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $101.22 and last traded at $100.12, with a volume of 2146852 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $99.45.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on PFGC. Citigroup began coverage on Performance Food Group in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $112.00 target price on Performance Food Group and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Performance Food Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on Performance Food Group from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Performance Food Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.31.

Performance Food Group Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $15.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Performance Food Group (NYSE:PFGC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The food distribution company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.07). Performance Food Group had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm had revenue of $15.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.41 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. Performance Food Group's revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Performance Food Group Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Performance Food Group

In other Performance Food Group news, insider Craig Howard Hoskins sold 14,285 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.70, for a total transaction of $1,195,654.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 138,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,551,269.60. The trade was a 9.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Donald S. Bulmer sold 2,404 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $216,360.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 51,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,621,500. This represents a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 84,172 shares of company stock worth $7,534,748. Insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Performance Food Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PFGC. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new stake in Performance Food Group in the fourth quarter worth $230,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Performance Food Group by 37.1% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 93,183 shares of the food distribution company's stock worth $7,992,000 after acquiring an additional 25,192 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in Performance Food Group by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 23,336 shares of the food distribution company's stock worth $1,973,000 after acquiring an additional 2,237 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Performance Food Group by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 11,222 shares of the food distribution company's stock worth $949,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Performance Food Group by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 226,531 shares of the food distribution company's stock worth $19,153,000 after acquiring an additional 2,064 shares during the last quarter. 96.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Performance Food Group

Performance Food Group Company, through its subsidiaries, markets and distributes food and food-related products in the United States. It operates through three segments: Foodservice, Vistar, and Convenience. The company offers a range of frozen foods, groceries, candy, snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and other tobacco products; beef, pork, poultry, and seafood; and health and beauty care products.