US Foods (NYSE:USFD) Research Coverage Started at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of US Foods (NYSE:USFD) in a research report released on Tuesday morning. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of US Foods in a report on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded US Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of US Foods in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on US Foods from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of US Foods from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, US Foods has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.50.

US Foods Trading Down 2.2%

US Foods stock opened at $82.01 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $76.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.54. The company has a market capitalization of $18.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.03. US Foods has a 52 week low of $57.36 and a 52 week high of $85.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

US Foods (NYSE:USFD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $10.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. US Foods had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 17.71%. US Foods’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that US Foods will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at US Foods

In other news, insider Steven Guberman sold 58,632 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.00, for a total transaction of $4,221,504.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 113,410 shares in the company, valued at $8,165,520. This trade represents a 34.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On US Foods

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of US Foods by 303.7% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 327 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in US Foods in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in US Foods by 120.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 482 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of US Foods during the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, MAI Capital Management raised its position in shares of US Foods by 155.6% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.