United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Raised to “Overweight” at Wells Fargo & Company

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $56.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $40.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 28.21% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on UNFI. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of United Natural Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of United Natural Foods from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of United Natural Foods in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of United Natural Foods from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, United Natural Foods has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.63.

United Natural Foods Trading Up 5.9%

Shares of UNFI stock opened at $43.68 on Thursday. United Natural Foods has a 1-year low of $20.78 and a 1-year high of $44.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.60 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $38.58 and a 200-day moving average of $36.55.

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

Insider Transactions at United Natural Foods

In other United Natural Foods news, Director James C. Pappas purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $33.30 per share, for a total transaction of $66,600.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 194,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,466,127.40. This trade represents a 1.04% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UNFI. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in United Natural Foods by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Optimize Financial Inc raised its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $706,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Arax Advisory Partners boosted its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 1,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 28,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. 87.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.