United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Stock Price Up 6.6% on Strong Earnings

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) traded up 6.6% on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $26.32 and last traded at $26.19. 203,130 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 647,407 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.57.

The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.96 billion. United Natural Foods had a positive return on equity of 1.27% and a negative net margin of 0.30%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.07 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on UNFI. CL King upgraded United Natural Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on United Natural Foods from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on United Natural Foods from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UNFI. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in United Natural Foods by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,531,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,450,000 after purchasing an additional 314,587 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its position in United Natural Foods by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 2,886,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,842,000 after purchasing an additional 110,608 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in United Natural Foods by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,383,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,094,000 after buying an additional 34,522 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in United Natural Foods by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,018,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,118,000 after buying an additional 442,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,358,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,852,000 after acquiring an additional 14,928 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.63% of the company’s stock.

United Natural Foods Trading Up 6.3 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $29.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.03. The company has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.83 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

United Natural Foods Company Profile

United Natural Foods, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes natural, organic, specialty, produce, and conventional grocery and non-food products in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Wholesale and Retail. The company offers grocery and general merchandise, produce, perishables and frozen foods, wellness and personal care items, and bulk and foodservice products.