United Natural Foods, Inc. $UNFI is Towle & Co.’s 3rd Largest Position

Towle & Co. reduced its position in shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) by 37.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 213,241 shares of the company’s stock after selling 126,555 shares during the period. United Natural Foods makes up approximately 3.7% of Towle & Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Towle & Co. owned about 0.35% of United Natural Foods worth $9,609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Revisor Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in United Natural Foods by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Optimize Financial Inc grew its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 20,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $706,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arax Advisory Partners raised its position in shares of United Natural Foods by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 1,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Natural Foods

In other news, insider Mark Bushway sold 10,000 shares of United Natural Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.56, for a total transaction 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Danielle Benedict sold 4,807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total value of $249,964.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 98,470 shares in the company, valued at $5,120,440. This trade represents a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on UNFI shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of United Natural Foods in a research report on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group increased their price objective on United Natural Foods from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of United Natural Foods in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of United Natural Foods from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Roth Capital restated a “neutral” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of United Natural Foods in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.86.

United Natural Foods Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of UNFI opened at $48.70 on Friday. United Natural Foods, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.88 and a fifty-two week high of $57.02. The company’s fifty day moving average is $49.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.45. The firm has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of -73.78 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 9th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.04). United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.12% and a positive return on equity of 7.42%. The company had revenue of $7.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. United Natural Foods’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. United Natural Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.400-2.600 EPS. Analysts forecast that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

United Natural Foods Company Profile

United Natural Foods, Inc (NYSE: UNFI) is a leading distributor of natural, organic and specialty foods in North America. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, the company has grown through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion to become one of the largest food distributors serving retail, foodservice and e-commerce customers.

UNFI’s core business centers on the procurement, warehousing and distribution of a broad portfolio of products, including fresh produce, groceries, frozen foods, dairy, bakery items, beverages, supplements and household essentials.