US Foods (NYSE:USFD) Sets New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• US Foods reached a new 52-week high of $85.50 during trading, though it last traded at $81.79, with a significant trading volume of 518 shares.
• Analysts have positively revised their views, with Wall Street Zen upgrading the stock to a "strong-buy," and several firms increasing their price targets, indicating strong institutional support.
• Despite missing earnings estimates in the last quarter, US Foods reported a 4.5% year-over-year revenue increase and a net margin of 1.38%, showcasing growth potential amidst challenges.

US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $85.50 and last traded at $81.79, with a volume of 518 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $84.68.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of US Foods from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of US Foods from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of US Foods in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of US Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $89.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of US Foods in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, US Foods presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $78.42.

US Foods Stock Performance

The business's fifty day moving average price is $79.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $18.01 billion, a PE ratio of 35.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.44.

US Foods (NYSE:USFD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $9.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.42 billion. US Foods had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 15.58%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that US Foods Holding Corp. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other US Foods news, EVP Dirk J. Locascio sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 115,077 shares in the company, valued at $9,206,160. The trade was a 6.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On US Foods

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of USFD. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of US Foods by 29.1% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 16,457,351 shares of the company's stock worth $1,076,225,000 after acquiring an additional 3,713,345 shares in the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in US Foods during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $110,245,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in US Foods during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $91,087,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in US Foods by 120.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,537,434 shares of the company's stock valued at $162,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in US Foods by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,546,048 shares of the company's stock valued at $493,964,000 after purchasing an additional 1,350,034 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.76% of the company's stock.

About US Foods

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.

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