United Natural Foods Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:UNFI)

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 3,523 call options on the company. This is an increase of 219% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,106 call options.

United Natural Foods Trading Up 20.1 %

Shares of United Natural Foods stock opened at $29.64 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.84. The firm has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.68 and a beta of 0.64. United Natural Foods has a fifty-two week low of $8.58 and a fifty-two week high of $32.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.18. The company had revenue of $7.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.61 billion. United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.36% and a positive return on equity of 0.54%. United Natural Foods’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.04) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that United Natural Foods will post 0.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNFI has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of United Natural Foods from $14.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of United Natural Foods from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Northcoast Research raised United Natural Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Natural Foods

In other United Natural Foods news, insider Danielle Benedict sold 15,152 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.78, for a total value of $299,706.56. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 100,423 shares in the company, valued at $1,986,366.94. The trade was a 13.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNFI. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,383,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,094,000 after acquiring an additional 34,522 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 49.5% during the second quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,773,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,235,000 after purchasing an additional 587,163 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $22,852,000 after purchasing an additional 14,928 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in United Natural Foods by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,267,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,601,000 after purchasing an additional 237,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hauser Brothers GmbH raised its holdings in United Natural Foods by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hauser Brothers GmbH now owns 912,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,340,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.63% of the company’s stock.

United Natural Foods Company Profile

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.