United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Trading Down 5.9% – Here’s Why

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) shares fell 5.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $53.16 and last traded at $52.2340. 541,055 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 705,268 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.52.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on UNFI shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of United Natural Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of United Natural Foods from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of United Natural Foods from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.63.

United Natural Foods Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of -39.73 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.94.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $7.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.11 billion. United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.25% and a positive return on equity of 6.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. United Natural Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.300-2.700 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Danielle Benedict sold 4,807 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider directly owned 98,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,120,440. This trade represents a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Natural Foods

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Groupe la Francaise grew its position in United Natural Foods by 33.3% in the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in United Natural Foods by 67.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 359,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,201,000 after buying an additional 144,322 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in United Natural Foods by 23.8% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 71,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,203,000 after buying an additional 13,669 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in United Natural Foods by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 433,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,540,000 after buying an additional 86,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in United Natural Foods by 293.0% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 64,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,907,000 after buying an additional 48,099 shares during the last quarter. 87.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.