United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company upgraded the stock from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating. The stock had previously closed at $43.56, but opened at $44.83. Wells Fargo & Company now has a $56.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $40.00. United Natural Foods shares last traded at $47.0180, with a volume of 403,931 shares trading hands.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on UNFI. Wall Street Zen upgraded United Natural Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on United Natural Foods from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on United Natural Foods from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of United Natural Foods in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Natural Foods

In other news, Director James C. Pappas bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $33.30 per share, with a total value of $66,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 194,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,466,127.40. This represents a 1.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of United Natural Foods

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Natural Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $656,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in United Natural Foods by 52.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 111,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,064,000 after purchasing an additional 38,504 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in United Natural Foods by 5.1% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 35,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,703 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in United Natural Foods by 58.1% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 332,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,120,000 after buying an additional 122,412 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in United Natural Foods by 10.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 625,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,132,000 after buying an additional 58,705 shares during the period. 87.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

United Natural Foods Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.81 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.61.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 10th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.11. United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.25% and a positive return on equity of 6.05%. The company had revenue of $7.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. United Natural Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. United Natural Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.300-2.700 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About United Natural Foods

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.