US Foods Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:USFD)

US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 2,500 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,057% compared to the typical volume of 216 put options.

US Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:USFD opened at $87.84 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.70. US Foods has a fifty-two week low of $57.36 and a fifty-two week high of $88.32. The company has a market capitalization of $19.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

US Foods (NYSE:USFD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. US Foods had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 17.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that US Foods will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $92.00 target price on US Foods in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on US Foods from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of US Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of US Foods in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of US Foods from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at US Foods

In related news, insider Steven Guberman sold 58,632 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 113,410 shares in the company, valued at $8,165,520. The trade was a 34.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of US Foods by 85.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 148,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,722,000 after purchasing an additional 68,567 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in US Foods during the 1st quarter worth approximately $359,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in US Foods during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $526,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in US Foods by 8.5% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after buying an additional 2,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its holdings in shares of US Foods by 2.6% in the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 47,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,689,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. 98.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About US Foods

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.