United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Saturday . The company traded as high as $55.87 and last traded at $55.4160, with a volume of 786484 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $52.97.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on UNFI. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of United Natural Foods from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of United Natural Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.63.

United Natural Foods Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of -42.63 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.11. United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.25% and a positive return on equity of 6.05%. The company had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. United Natural Foods’s quarterly 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, research analysts expect that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Danielle Benedict sold 4,807 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total transaction of $249,964.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 98,470 shares in the company, valued at $5,120,440. The trade was a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Natural Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UNFI. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of United Natural Foods during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of United Natural Foods during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 4,266.7% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 768 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Natural Foods during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 84.2% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.63% of the company’s stock.

About United Natural Foods

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.