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

Prudential Financial Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,268,662 shares of the company’s stock after selling 138,770 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 2.12% of United Natural Foods worth $34,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of United Natural Foods by 368.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 62,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 49,427 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.5% in 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. lifted its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 118.1% during the 3rd 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 bought a new position in shares of United Natural Foods during the 4th quarter worth $656,000. Finally, Adero Partners LLC purchased a new stake in United Natural Foods in the 4th quarter worth about $243,000. 87.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNFI has been the topic of several recent research reports. CL King raised 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 report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of United Natural Foods from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on United Natural Foods from $23.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.50.

United Natural Foods Price Performance

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

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.04. United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.30% and a positive return on equity of 1.27%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.07 earnings per share. United Natural Foods’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.