Prudential Financial Inc. Decreases Holdings in United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,268,662 shares of the company’s stock after selling 138,770 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in United Natural Foods were worth $34,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 368.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 62,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 49,427 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in United Natural Foods by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,383,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,094,000 after buying an additional 34,522 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 118.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 177,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,993,000 after buying an additional 96,341 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Natural Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $656,000. Finally, Adero Partners LLC purchased a new stake in United Natural Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $243,000. 87.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Natural Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNFI opened at $27.08 on Wednesday. United Natural Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.58 and a 1 year high of $34.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.25 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50-day moving average is $29.34 and its 200 day moving average is $24.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.96 billion. United Natural Foods had a positive return on equity of 1.27% and a negative net margin of 0.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.07 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on UNFI. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on United Natural Foods from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of United Natural Foods from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of United Natural Foods from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. CL King upgraded shares of United Natural Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.50.

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.