United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Given New $36.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) had its price objective increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $26.00 to $36.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on UNFI. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a research report on Wednesday. Northcoast Research raised United Natural Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on United Natural Foods from $36.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on United Natural Foods from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $24.00 target price on United Natural Foods and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.00.

United Natural Foods Trading Up 4.9%

Shares of United Natural Foods stock opened at $39.48 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.77. The company has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.24 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. United Natural Foods has a 1 year low of $18.81 and a 1 year high of $39.69.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 30th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $7.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.61 billion. United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.37% and a positive return on equity of 2.74%. United Natural Foods’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that United Natural Foods will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other United Natural Foods news, insider Danielle Benedict sold 11,655 shares of United Natural Foods stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.31, for a total transaction of $411,538.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 89,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,161,798.64. This trade represents a 11.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in United Natural Foods by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,603,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,690,000 after buying an additional 169,640 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in United Natural Foods by 20.7% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,544,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,308,000 after buying an additional 436,680 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in United Natural Foods by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,424,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,203,000 after buying an additional 27,943 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in United Natural Foods by 196.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 925,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,583,000 after buying an additional 613,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in United Natural Foods by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 902,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,035,000 after buying an additional 39,142 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.63% of the company’s stock.

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.