US Foods (NYSE:USFD) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $87.28 and last traded at $86.91, with a volume of 876415 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.36.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

USFD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on US Foods from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of US Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of US Foods in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of US Foods from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $92.00 target price on US Foods in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.00.

US Foods Stock Up 0.0%

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $79.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $19.58 billion, a PE ratio of 36.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.02.

US Foods (NYSE:USFD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.02. US Foods had a return on equity of 17.71% and a net margin of 1.43%.The company had revenue of $10.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. US Foods’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that US Foods Holding Corp. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Steven Guberman sold 58,632 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.00, for a total value of $4,221,504.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 113,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,165,520. This trade represents a 34.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On US Foods

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of USFD. North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of US Foods during the fourth quarter valued at about $609,000. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of US Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $279,000. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of US Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $224,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of US Foods in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $245,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of US Foods by 5,404.1% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 65,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,967,000 after purchasing an additional 64,741 shares in the last quarter. 98.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

US Foods Company Profile

US Foods (NYSE: USFD) is a leading foodservice distributor in the United States that supplies a wide range of products and services to professional food operators. The company provides fresh, frozen and dry food items as well as non-food restaurant supplies and kitchen equipment. Its customer base includes independent restaurants, multi-unit chains, healthcare and senior living facilities, hospitality businesses, government and educational institutions, and other foodservice operators.

Beyond commodity and branded food products, US Foods offers value-added solutions designed to help customers run their businesses.