State Street Corp Acquires 34,522 Shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)

State Street Corp lifted its holdings in United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,383,733 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,522 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned 3.98% of United Natural Foods worth $40,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of United Natural Foods during the third quarter valued at about $364,000. Hauser Brothers GmbH increased its holdings in United Natural Foods by 0.6% during the third quarter. Hauser Brothers GmbH now owns 912,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,340,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in United Natural Foods in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $196,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in United Natural Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $354,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 92.8% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 37,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $626,000 after acquiring an additional 17,914 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at United Natural Foods

In other United Natural Foods news, insider Danielle Benedict sold 15,152 shares of United Natural Foods stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.78, for a total value of $299,706.56. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNFI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Mkm increased their target price on United Natural Foods from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of United Natural Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on United Natural Foods from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.60.

United Natural Foods Price Performance

United Natural Foods stock opened at $25.88 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.48 and a beta of 0.64. United Natural Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.58 and a 1 year high of $32.20. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $23.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.54.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.18. United Natural Foods had a positive return on equity of 1.27% and a negative net margin of 0.30%. The firm had revenue of $7.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.04) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.