US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD) Short Interest Up 36.0% in February

US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD) saw a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,400,000 shares, a growth of 36.0% from the February 13th total of 3,970,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,180,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at US Foods

In other news, Director David W. Bullock acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $71.06 per share, with a total value of $284,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $319,770. The trade was a 800.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On US Foods

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Colonial Trust Co SC purchased a new position in US Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of US Foods by 94.5% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of US Foods by 59.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of US Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of US Foods by 332.5% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.76% of the company’s stock.

US Foods Trading Down 1.6 %

USFD traded down $1.08 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $64.91. The company had a trading volume of 407,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,251,376. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.08. The company has a market cap of $14.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.65. US Foods has a 12-month low of $49.65 and a 12-month high of $73.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.21.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on USFD. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of US Foods from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of US Foods from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of US Foods from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Melius assumed coverage on shares of US Foods in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $12.00 price objective 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, US Foods has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $70.33.

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.