United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $53.18 and last traded at $52.2340, with a volume of 613367 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.32.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised United Natural Foods from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Zacks Research downgraded United Natural Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded United Natural Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on United Natural Foods from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on United Natural Foods from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Natural Foods currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.63.

United Natural Foods Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of -40.13 and a beta of 0.82.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.11. United Natural Foods had a positive return on equity of 6.05% and a negative net margin of 0.25%.The firm had revenue of $7.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. United Natural Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.300-2.700 EPS. Equities analysts predict that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Natural Foods

In other news, insider Danielle Benedict sold 4,807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total value of $249,964.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 98,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,120,440. This represents a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Natural Foods

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Revisor Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 4.7% in the first quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. Optimize Financial Inc boosted its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $706,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Arax Advisory Partners boosted its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 1,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.63% of the company’s stock.

United Natural Foods Company Profile

United Natural Foods, Inc (NYSE: UNFI) is a leading distributor of natural, organic and specialty foods in North America. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, the company has grown through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion to become one of the largest food distributors serving retail, foodservice and e-commerce customers.

UNFI’s core business centers on the procurement, warehousing and distribution of a broad portfolio of products, including fresh produce, groceries, frozen foods, dairy, bakery items, beverages, supplements and household essentials.