Short Interest in US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD) Expands By 36.0%

US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD) saw a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,400,000 shares, an increase of 36.0% from the February 13th total of 3,970,000 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,180,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

USFD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on US Foods from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of US Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on US Foods from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of US Foods from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of US Foods to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, US Foods currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David W. Bullock purchased 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $71.06 per share, for a total transaction of $284,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $319,770. This trade represents a 800.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On US Foods

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in US Foods by 183.6% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 27,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 18,057 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn FI LLC acquired a new stake in shares of US Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $445,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of US Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $232,000. PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of US Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $464,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in US Foods by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 795,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,647,000 after acquiring an additional 77,418 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.76% of the company’s stock.

US Foods Stock Performance

NYSE USFD traded up $0.55 on Monday, hitting $66.04. 2,161,766 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,847,434. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $69.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.08. US Foods has a 1-year low of $49.65 and a 1-year high of $73.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.21 billion, a PE ratio of 32.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.65.

US Foods (NYSE:USFD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.01). US Foods had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 15.03%. The business had revenue of $9.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.47 billion. As a group, analysts expect that US Foods will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

About US Foods

US Foods Holding Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in marketing, sale, and distribution of fresh, frozen, and dry food and non-food products to foodservice customers in the United States. The company's customers include independently owned single and multi-unit restaurants, regional concepts, national restaurant chains, hospitals, nursing homes, hotels and motels, country clubs, government and military organizations, colleges and universities, and retail locations.