US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,970,000 shares, a growth of 34.1% from the January 31st total of 2,960,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,060,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

USFD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Melius initiated coverage on US Foods in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $12.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on US Foods from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on US Foods from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays boosted their target price on US Foods from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on US Foods from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $70.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David W. Bullock bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $71.06 per share, with a total value of $284,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $319,770. This represents a 800.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On US Foods

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Colonial Trust Co SC bought a new stake in US Foods during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of US Foods by 94.5% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of US Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of US Foods by 59.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of US Foods by 153.6% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. 98.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

US Foods Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE USFD opened at $69.21 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $69.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.71. US Foods has a fifty-two week low of $49.65 and a fifty-two week high of $73.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.94 billion, a PE ratio of 34.26, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.65.

US Foods (NYSE:USFD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $9.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.47 billion. Equities analysts expect that US Foods will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.