United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Trading Down 5.8% – Here’s What Happened

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) shares traded down 5.8% on Monday . The company traded as low as $36.39 and last traded at $36.3710. 180,265 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 914,907 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.63.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on UNFI. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on United Natural Foods from $36.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on United Natural Foods from $29.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Roth Capital upped their price target on United Natural Foods from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $29.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.00.

United Natural Foods Stock Down 8.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a PE ratio of -18.06 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.99.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 1st. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.07. United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.37% and a positive return on equity of 2.74%. The business had revenue of $7.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.61 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.01 earnings per share. United Natural Foods’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Danielle Benedict sold 11,655 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.31, for a total value of $411,538.05. Following the transaction, the insider owned 89,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,161,798.64. This represents a 11.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of United Natural Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNFI. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,664,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,824,000 after acquiring an additional 28,119 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 5.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,746,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,307,000 after buying an additional 142,485 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in United Natural Foods by 20.7% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,544,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,308,000 after buying an additional 436,680 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in United Natural Foods by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,424,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,203,000 after acquiring an additional 27,943 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 40.4% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,300,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,922,000 after acquiring an additional 374,487 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.63% of the company’s stock.

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.