Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $36.01 Million Position in US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 533,787 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,574 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in US Foods were worth $36,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of USFD. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of US Foods in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of US Foods by 332.5% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of US Foods in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of US Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of US Foods by 54.2% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at US Foods

In related news, Director David W. Bullock acquired 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $71.06 per share, for a total transaction of $284,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $319,770. This trade represents a 800.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on USFD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of US Foods from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Melius assumed coverage on shares of US Foods in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $12.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of US Foods from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of US Foods from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of US Foods from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $70.33.

US Foods Stock Performance

NYSE USFD opened at $70.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $69.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.65. US Foods Holding Corp. has a 1 year low of $49.65 and a 1 year high of $73.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.67.

US Foods (NYSE:USFD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.01). US Foods had a return on equity of 15.03% and a net margin of 1.30%. The firm had revenue of $9.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.47 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that US Foods Holding Corp. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

About US Foods

US Foods Holding Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in marketing, sale, and distribution of fresh, frozen, and dry food and non-food products to foodservice customers in the United States. The company's customers include independently owned single and multi-unit restaurants, regional concepts, national restaurant chains, hospitals, nursing homes, hotels and motels, country clubs, government and military organizations, colleges and universities, and retail locations.