United Natural Foods Inc (NASDAQ:UNFI)
United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI), a natural, organic, and specialty foods and non-food products company yesterday reported their fiscal fourth quarter 2017 financial results.
United reported adjusted fourth quarter earnings of $0.72 per share which beat analyst expectations of $0.69 per share. United reported adjusted fourth quarter revenues of $2.34 billion which fell short of analyst expectations of $2.37 billion.
United Natural Foods, Inc. CEO’s Comments
“Our performance in fiscal 2017 demonstrated our steadfast focus on serving our customers and managing our business in a challenging and deflationary operating environment,” said Steven L. Spinner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of UNFI. “We are optimistic about growth and the opportunities ahead of us, given the strength of our national supply chain as well as the breadth of our unique, better for you, fresh, organic and specialty product offerings.” Business Wire
UNFI Technical Analysis
UNFI opened trading yesterday at $36.56 which was down from the previous day’s trading close of $36.57. UNFI closed trading yesterday at $37.21 and spiked up after market to $39.70, equivalent to a 7% increase from the closing price. Taking a look at the daily chart we can see the last time UNFI traded above these levels we have to go back to June 15th when it traded at $39.75.
Taking a closer look at the daily chart we can see that before the spike up UNFI had been in an overall downward trend dating back to June 2nd when it traded at $41.86. UNFI has a float of 50.21 million shares and traded 1.86 times the normal daily trading volume on Wednesday.
For trading purposes, I would like to see UNFI open trading on Thursday above $38.85 and if it does I would be looking to take a long position at the bell. My stop loss would be $0.30 from my entry position fearing anything more than that and the stock would start to fill in the gap up.
Company Profile
United Natural Foods, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, distributes and retails natural, organic, and specialty foods and non-food products in the United States and Canada. The company operates through three divisions: Wholesale, Retail, and Manufacturing and Branded Products. The Wholesale division offers grocery and general merchandise, produce, perishables and frozen foods, nutritional supplements and sports nutrition, bulk and foodservice products, and personal care products.
This segment also distributes an array of specialty protein, cheese, deli, food service, and bakery goods; and organic and conventional produce and non-produce perishable items, and natural and organic specialty and gourmet ethnic products, as well as vitamins, minerals, and supplements. The Retail division operates 13 natural products retail stores primarily in Florida.
The Manufacturing and Branded Products division is involved in importing, roasting, packaging, and distributing nuts, dried fruits, seeds, trail mixes, granola, natural and organic snack items, and confections. This segment also provides Blue Marble Brands products on wholesale basis through third-party distributors in organic, natural, and specialty food brands, as well as directly to retailers; and Field Day brand products primarily to customers in its independent natural products retailer channel.
The company serves independently owned natural products retailers, supernatural chains, conventional supermarkets, and mass market chains, as well as foodservice, e-commerce, and international customers outside Canada. United Natural Foods, Inc. was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island.