LPL Financial LLC Sells 58,485 Shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)

LPL Financial LLC cut its stake in United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) by 28.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 146,014 shares of the company’s stock after selling 58,485 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.24% of United Natural Foods worth $3,999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of UNFI. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in United Natural Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $656,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 50.4% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 48,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,321,000 after buying an additional 16,206 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 30,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $838,000 after buying an additional 2,246 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of United Natural Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $462,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 796.2% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 1,672 shares in the last quarter. 87.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

United Natural Foods Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of United Natural Foods stock opened at $26.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.01 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.99. United Natural Foods, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.03 and a 12-month high of $34.76.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 10th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $8.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.78 billion. United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.21% and a positive return on equity of 3.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. Research analysts expect that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of United Natural Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of United Natural Foods from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.13.

United Natural Foods Company Profile

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.