Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Stock Position in United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,531,673 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 314,587 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.06% of United Natural Foods worth $96,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in United Natural Foods during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $324,000. Amundi raised its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 368.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 62,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,813,000 after buying an additional 49,427 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 96,341 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Natural Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $656,000. Finally, Adero Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Natural Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $243,000. 87.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on United Natural Foods from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised United Natural Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, CL King raised United Natural Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.50.

United Natural Foods Price Performance

United Natural Foods stock opened at $25.92 on Tuesday. United Natural Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.90 and a 52 week high of $34.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a PE ratio of -16.51 and a beta of 1.08.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.04. United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.30% and a positive return on equity of 1.27%. The business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.07 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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.