Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 1,100 Shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,800 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in United Natural Foods were worth $484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in United Natural Foods by 86.6% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 264,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,461,000 after purchasing an additional 122,626 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in United Natural Foods in the 1st quarter worth about $2,317,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in United Natural Foods by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,587,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,175,000 after acquiring an additional 321,020 shares in the last quarter. Aristeia Capital L.L.C. bought a new position in United Natural Foods in the 2nd quarter worth about $661,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in United Natural Foods in the 1st quarter worth about $1,655,000. 87.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at United Natural Foods

In related news, insider Danielle Benedict sold 9,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.10, for a total transaction of $200,005.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 88,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,949,617.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

United Natural Foods Price Performance

NYSE UNFI opened at $20.85 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $18.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.41. United Natural Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.58 and a 52-week high of $23.15. The company has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of -11.03 and a beta of 0.62.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.09. United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.36% and a positive return on equity of 0.54%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.25) earnings per share. United Natural Foods’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 0.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on UNFI. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of United Natural Foods from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of United Natural Foods from $14.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of United Natural Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of United Natural Foods from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.40.

United Natural Foods Company Profile

United Natural Foods, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes natural, organic, specialty, produce, and conventional grocery and non-food products in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Wholesale and Retail. The company offers grocery and general merchandise, produce, perishables and frozen foods, wellness and personal care items, and bulk and foodservice products.