United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $47.99 and last traded at $47.2970, with a volume of 70072 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.03.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on UNFI. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on United Natural Foods from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen raised United Natural Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on United Natural Foods from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised United Natural Foods from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $40.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.63.

United Natural Foods Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.13 and a beta of 0.83.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.11. United Natural Foods had a positive return on equity of 6.05% and a negative net margin of 0.25%.The company had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. United Natural Foods’s revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. United Natural Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.300-2.700 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 36,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,239,000 after buying an additional 2,358 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lifted its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 34,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after buying an additional 5,609 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 784.6% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 66,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,238,000 after buying an additional 59,346 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 82.6% during the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 42,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after buying an additional 19,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of United Natural Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,938,000. 87.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Natural Foods Company Profile

United Natural Foods, Inc (NYSE: UNFI) is a leading distributor of natural, organic and specialty foods in North America. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, the company has grown through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion to become one of the largest food distributors serving retail, foodservice and e-commerce customers.

UNFI’s core business centers on the procurement, warehousing and distribution of a broad portfolio of products, including fresh produce, groceries, frozen foods, dairy, bakery items, beverages, supplements and household essentials.