First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Makes New Investment in United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new position in United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 10,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $174,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,434,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,128,000 after acquiring an additional 277,636 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,040,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,847,000 after acquiring an additional 199,757 shares during the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 803,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,363,000 after purchasing an additional 10,603 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 2,136.5% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 657,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,668,000 after purchasing an additional 627,930 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 630,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,913,000 after purchasing an additional 51,028 shares during the period. 87.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on United Natural Foods from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 7th. StockNews.com cut United Natural Foods from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective (down previously from $15.00) on shares of United Natural Foods in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, United Natural Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Natural Foods news, CAO Richard Eric Esper sold 4,375 shares of United Natural Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.35, for a total transaction of $49,656.25. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $373,017.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

United Natural Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNFI opened at $9.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.53. United Natural Foods, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.58 and a fifty-two week high of $28.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $575.35 million, a PE ratio of -4.96 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.90.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 6th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.87 billion. United Natural Foods had a positive return on equity of 1.20% and a negative net margin of 0.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post -0.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About United Natural Foods

United Natural Foods, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes natural, organic, specialty, produce, and conventional grocery and non-food products in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Wholesale and Retail. The company offers grocery and general merchandise, produce, perishables and frozen foods, wellness and personal care items, and bulk and foodservice products.