The Goldman Sachs Group Lowers United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Price Target to $26.00

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) had its target price lowered by The Goldman Sachs Group from $30.00 to $26.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of United Natural Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Northcoast Research lowered shares of United Natural Foods from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. CL King raised United Natural Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group dropped their price target on United Natural Foods from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on United Natural Foods from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.43.

United Natural Foods Stock Performance

UNFI stock opened at $21.30 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. United Natural Foods has a 12-month low of $11.88 and a 12-month high of $34.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of -13.57 and a beta of 0.90.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 10th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.22. 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 $8.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that United Natural Foods will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of United Natural Foods

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,531,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,450,000 after buying an additional 314,587 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its stake in United Natural Foods by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 2,886,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,842,000 after acquiring an additional 110,608 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in United Natural Foods by 20.6% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,433,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,666,000 after purchasing an additional 415,700 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in United Natural Foods by 207.0% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,357,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,065,000 after purchasing an additional 915,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of United Natural Foods in the first quarter worth approximately $24,171,000. 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.