United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Stock Price Up 4.4% – Time to Buy?

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)’s share price traded up 4.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $54.96 and last traded at $55.2960. 147,752 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 700,727 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.97.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of United Natural Foods from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of United Natural Foods from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $40.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of United Natural Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.63.

United Natural Foods Stock Up 5.0%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of -42.77 and a beta of 0.81.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 10th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.95 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. United Natural Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.300-2.700 EPS. Analysts forecast that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at United Natural Foods

In related news, insider Danielle Benedict sold 4,807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total transaction of $249,964.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 98,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,120,440. This represents a 4.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Natural Foods

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 0.8% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,664,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,824,000 after acquiring an additional 28,119 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,746,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,307,000 after purchasing an additional 142,485 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in United Natural Foods by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,389,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,444,000 after purchasing an additional 23,967 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in United Natural Foods by 155.1% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,732,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053,081 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in United Natural Foods by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,456,000 after purchasing an additional 41,674 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.