US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of US Foods from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of US Foods from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of US Foods from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Melius initiated coverage on shares of US Foods in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $12.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of US Foods to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at US Foods

In related news, Director David W. Bullock acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $71.06 per share, for a total transaction of $284,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $319,770. This represents a 800.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in USFD. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of US Foods by 2,853.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 16,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 15,924 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in US Foods by 31.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 1,528 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in US Foods by 217.6% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 30,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,870,000 after buying an additional 20,831 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in US Foods by 12.5% during the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 6,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 669 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in US Foods by 4.0% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 17,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.76% of the company’s stock.

US Foods Trading Down 2.2 %

NYSE:USFD opened at $70.07 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.69, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.65. US Foods has a one year low of $49.65 and a one year high of $73.19. 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 (NYSE:USFD) last issued its 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). The firm had revenue of $9.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.47 billion. US Foods had a return on equity of 15.03% and a net margin of 1.30%. As a group, analysts forecast that US Foods will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

US Foods Company Profile

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.