United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Rating Increased to Overweight at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note published on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $56.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $40.00.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of United Natural Foods in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on United Natural Foods from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Natural Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.63.

United Natural Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNFI opened at $45.26 on Thursday. United Natural Foods has a one year low of $20.78 and a one year high of $47.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.81 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.33.

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

Insider Activity

In other United Natural Foods news, Director James C. Pappas purchased 15,000 shares of United Natural Foods stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $33.76 per share, with a total value of $506,400.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 192,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,487,929.28. This represents a 8.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UNFI. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in United Natural Foods by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Optimize Financial Inc grew its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $706,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Arax Advisory Partners increased its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 1,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.1% in the third quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 28,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.63% of the company’s stock.

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.