US Foods (NYSE:USFD) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of US Foods (NYSE:USFD) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Sunday.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on USFD. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of US Foods from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of US Foods in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup cut their price objective on US Foods from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of US Foods in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.50.

US Foods Stock Performance

NYSE:USFD opened at $79.12 on Friday. US Foods has a twelve month low of $57.36 and a twelve month high of $85.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.64 billion, a PE ratio of 32.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.03.

US Foods (NYSE:USFD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.02. US Foods had a return on equity of 17.71% and a net margin of 1.43%.The firm had revenue of $10.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that US Foods will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Steven Guberman sold 58,632 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.00, for a total value of $4,221,504.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 113,410 shares in the company, valued at $8,165,520. This represents a 34.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On US Foods

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in USFD. Securian Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of US Foods by 0.7% in the second quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,357,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp raised its holdings in US Foods by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 1,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in US Foods by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of US Foods by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 5,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Suncoast Equity Management boosted its stake in shares of US Foods by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Suncoast Equity Management now owns 11,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $876,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.76% of the company’s stock.

US Foods Company Profile

US Foods (NYSE: USFD) is a leading foodservice distributor in the United States that supplies a wide range of products and services to professional food operators. The company provides fresh, frozen and dry food items as well as non-food restaurant supplies and kitchen equipment. Its customer base includes independent restaurants, multi-unit chains, healthcare and senior living facilities, hospitality businesses, government and educational institutions, and other foodservice operators.

Beyond commodity and branded food products, US Foods offers value-added solutions designed to help customers run their businesses.