US Foods (NYSE:USFD) Rating Lowered to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

US Foods (NYSE:USFD) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on USFD. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of US Foods in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of US Foods from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of US Foods from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of US Foods in a report on Friday, November 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.50.

US Foods Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:USFD opened at $85.69 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.70. US Foods has a one year low of $57.36 and a one year high of $85.85. The company has a market cap of $19.10 billion, a PE ratio of 35.70, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $76.03 and a 200-day moving average of $77.38.

US Foods (NYSE:USFD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $10.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. US Foods had a return on equity of 17.71% and a net margin of 1.43%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that US Foods will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at US Foods

In related news, insider Steven Guberman sold 58,632 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.00, for a total value of $4,221,504.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 113,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,165,520. The trade was a 34.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of US Foods

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in USFD. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of US Foods by 303.7% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 327 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of US Foods in the third quarter worth $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of US Foods by 120.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in US Foods in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, MAI Capital Management increased its position in shares of US Foods by 155.6% during the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 529 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.76% of the company’s stock.

US Foods Company Profile

US Foods (NYSE: USFD) is a leading foodservice distributor in the United States that supplies a wide range of products and services to professional food operators. The company provides fresh, frozen and dry food items as well as non-food restaurant supplies and kitchen equipment. Its customer base includes independent restaurants, multi-unit chains, healthcare and senior living facilities, hospitality businesses, government and educational institutions, and other foodservice operators.

Beyond commodity and branded food products, US Foods offers value-added solutions designed to help customers run their businesses.