On April 19, 2023, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC surprised investors by decreasing its position in United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) by 38.1% during the fourth quarter. According to the most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the institutional investor owned 9,295 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,732 shares during the quarter. This move resulted in a decrease worth $360,000 at the end of the last quarter.
United Natural Foods (NYSE: UNFI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 8th. Unfortunately for investors, they were not as promising as analysts had hoped for. The company reported earnings per share of $0.78 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.38 by ($0.60). These below-expectations figures came despite United Natural Foods having a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of only 0.64%. Furthermore, while their business had revenues of $7.82 billion during that quarter compared to analyst estimates of $7.77 billion, these figures still showed only a small increase from their revenue in that same period in the prior year which was up to $1.13 EPS.
United Natural Foods remains engaged in wholesome activities through distribution of natural and organic foods and non-food products under two segments – Wholesale and Retail.Specifically,the Wholesale segment involves national distribution while providing retail services throughout United States and Canada.The firm upholds its promise on delivering quality food products to its consumers.
Despite their lackluster quarterly earnings report and decrease in investment from Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC , equities analysts expect United Natural Foods, Inc to post a decent annual earnings-per-share figure for this fiscal year ending soon; specifically estimated at around 3.23 EPS based on past performance achievements over time.Thus,it is important for investors to carefully evaluate the company’s future prospects before making any investment decisions.
Institutional Investors Increase Stake in United Natural Foods, Inc. Despite Rating Dips
United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE: UNFI) has seen changes in their positions by hedge funds and institutional investors during the third quarter of 2023. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired new shares worth $25,000 while Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased their stake by 307.9%, owning 771 shares valued at $30,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake by 163.9% with 797 shares worth $27,000 while Allworth Financial LP increased its position by 28.3%, possessing 1,334 shares worth $46,000. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC also bought new shares valued at $54,000 during the same quarter period. Institutional investors now hold 85.63% of the company’s stock.
Shares of United Natural Foods opened at $25.86 on April 19, 2023 and has a market capitalisation of $1.54 billion with a PE ratio of 8.32 and a beta of 1.05.The Wholesale segment is responsible for distributing natural, organic, specialty food and non-food products throughout the United States and Canada.
Various analysts have given different points-of-view on the firm’s status as eight equities research analysts rated it “Hold,” two stated “Buy,” while Bloomberg reflects a consensus rating of “Hold” with an average target price rating of $35.71 per share.
In March alone, CEO J Alexander Douglas Jr acquired over forty-five thousand shares costing around one million dollars which were disclosed to SEC website along with Christopher P Testa – who sold over twenty-seven thousand shares amounting to over one million dollars from his ownership totaling around four hundred-thousand shares priced at over five million dollars based on recent valuations.
Overall, despite some dip in ratings from Goldman Sachs and Northcoast Research among others citing reasons like decrease in values or downgrading from buy to neutral, United Natural Foods Inc. remains an attractive proposition due to its market valuation, position with wholesale retail services and several optimistic reviews by notable analysts.
