United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Shares Down 3.6% – Time to Sell?

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)’s share price traded down 3.6% on Monday . The company traded as low as $27.50 and last traded at $27.55. 80,596 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 469,962 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.59.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNFI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on United Natural Foods from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on United Natural Foods from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of United Natural Foods from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Northcoast Research raised shares of United Natural Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.60.

United Natural Foods Trading Down 2.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of -17.76 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $24.41 and a 200 day moving average of $18.63.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $7.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.61 billion. United Natural Foods had a positive return on equity of 1.27% and a negative net margin of 0.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Danielle Benedict sold 9,050 shares of United Natural Foods stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.10, for a total value of $200,005.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,949,617.80. The trade was a 9.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 66.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in United Natural Foods by 118.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 177,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,993,000 after acquiring an additional 96,341 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in United Natural Foods by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,358,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,852,000 after acquiring an additional 14,928 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,383,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,094,000 after purchasing an additional 34,522 shares during the period. 87.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.