United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the eight research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $27.50.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on UNFI shares. StockNews.com upgraded United Natural Foods from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. CL King upgraded United Natural Foods from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $33.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on United Natural Foods from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

United Natural Foods Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of UNFI stock opened at $28.54 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $26.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of -18.18 and a beta of 1.08. United Natural Foods has a fifty-two week low of $10.23 and a fifty-two week high of $34.76.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Natural Foods

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in United Natural Foods by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,531,673 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,450,000 after purchasing an additional 314,587 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in United Natural Foods by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 2,886,938 shares of the company's stock valued at $78,842,000 after purchasing an additional 110,608 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in United Natural Foods by 20.6% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,433,948 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,666,000 after purchasing an additional 415,700 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 207.0% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,357,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,065,000 after buying an additional 915,177 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Natural Foods in the 1st quarter valued at $24,171,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.63% of the company's stock.

United Natural Foods Company 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.

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