Towle & Co. Lowers Stock Position in United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)

Towle & Co. decreased its position in shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) by 19.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 622,302 shares of the company’s stock after selling 154,164 shares during the period. United Natural Foods accounts for 2.9% of Towle & Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Towle & Co.’s holdings in United Natural Foods were worth $16,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of UNFI. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 207.0% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,357,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,065,000 after buying an additional 915,177 shares during the last quarter. Senvest Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Natural Foods in the fourth quarter worth $18,161,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $55,118,000 after buying an additional 442,574 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 162.7% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 587,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,050,000 after buying an additional 363,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,531,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,450,000 after buying an additional 314,587 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNFI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. CL King raised shares of 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, March 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Natural Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Natural Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.50.

United Natural Foods Stock Up 1.8%

NYSE:UNFI opened at $31.12 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.82 and a beta of 1.08. United Natural Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.97 and a 1-year high of $34.76. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $26.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.93. 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 (NYSE:UNFI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.96 billion. United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.30% and a positive return on equity of 1.27%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

About United Natural Foods

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.