United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.07, FiscalAI reports. United Natural Foods had a net margin of 0.27% and a return on equity of 10.51%. The firm had revenue of $7.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.11) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. United Natural Foods updated its FY 2027 guidance to 3.000-3.500 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from United Natural Foods’ conference call:

• Positive Sentiment: UNFI reported fiscal 2026 Adjusted EBITDA of $701 million, up 27% year over year, and record free cash flow of $323 million. Net leverage fell to 2.2x from 3.3x, supported by lower debt and refinancing savings.
• Positive Sentiment: Management expects fiscal 2027 Adjusted EBITDA of $730 million to $780 million, or high-single-digit growth at the midpoint, with Adjusted EPS of $3.00 to $3.50. The company said the outlook positions it to reach its fiscal 2028 margin target one year early.
• Neutral Sentiment: Fiscal 2027 sales are expected to rise about 1% at the midpoint to $31.2 billion-$31.8 billion, but revenue is likely to decline in the first quarter as optimization actions and project work are lapped before returning to profitable growth in the second half.
• Negative Sentiment: Conventional product sales declined mid-single digits and retail sales fell 8% in the quarter, while higher fuel costs, low-single-digit inflation, and increased fiscal 2027 capital spending of about $300 million are expected to pressure results and offset some EBITDA growth in free cash flow.
• Positive Sentiment: The board authorized a new $200 million share-repurchase program after UNFI repurchased approximately $50 million of stock in fiscal 2026, while management plans to reduce leverage below 2.0x by the end of fiscal 2027.

United Natural Foods Trading Up 0.8%

UNFI opened at $44.47 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.95. United Natural Foods has a 12 month low of $27.97 and a 12 month high of $57.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.19 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a research report on Monday, July 6th. BTIG Research restated a “neutral” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on United Natural Foods from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Zacks Research lowered United Natural Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of United Natural Foods in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Natural Foods

In related news, insider Mark Bushway sold 10,000 shares of United Natural Foods stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.56, for a total value of $515,600.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 51,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,635,695.64. The trade was a 16.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

United Natural Foods Company Profile

United Natural Foods, Inc (NYSE: UNFI) is a distributor of natural, organic, specialty, fresh and conventional food products in the United States and Canada. The company supplies grocery retailers, independent stores, supermarkets, e-commerce businesses, foodservice operators and other customers with a broad range of products.

UNFI’s offerings include produce, perishables, center-store groceries, refrigerated and frozen foods, beverages, supplements, personal-care products and household items.