United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently commented on UNFI. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of United Natural Foods in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. UBS Group lifted their target price on United Natural Foods from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered United Natural Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of United Natural Foods in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.86.

United Natural Foods Trading Up 2.7%

NYSE UNFI opened at $48.65 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a PE ratio of -73.70 and a beta of 0.84. United Natural Foods has a one year low of $24.88 and a one year high of $57.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $49.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.36.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 9th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.04). United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.12% and a positive return on equity of 7.42%. The business had revenue of $7.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. United Natural Foods’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. United Natural Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.400-2.600 EPS. Analysts expect that United Natural Foods will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at United Natural Foods

In related news, insider Mark Bushway sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.56, for a total transaction of $515,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,635,695.64. This represents a 16.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Natural Foods

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,389,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,444,000 after buying an additional 23,967 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 155.1% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,732,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,047,000 after buying an additional 1,053,081 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,456,000 after buying an additional 41,674 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in United Natural Foods by 40.4% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,300,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,922,000 after acquiring an additional 374,487 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in United Natural Foods by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,119,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,703,000 after acquiring an additional 117,717 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.63% of the company’s stock.

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.