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United Natural (UNFI) Soars 7.1%: Is Further Upside Left in the Stock?

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United Natural Foods (UNFI - Free Report) shares ended the last trading session 7.1% higher at $16.20. The jump came on an impressive volume with a higher-than-average number of shares changing hands in the session. This compares to the stock's 12.7% gain over the past four weeks.

United Natural is reaping the rewards of its transformation efforts. The company is advancing its margin improvement and cash flow generation through strategic initiatives focused on four key areas: enhancing network optimization, reducing annual capital expenditures, streamlining cost structures, and substantially cutting net working capital. Investors appear to be reacting favorably to the company’s growth-oriented strategy.

This organic and specialty foods distributor is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.08 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +68%. Revenues are expected to be $7.87 billion, up 6.2% from the year-ago quarter.

While earnings and revenue growth expectations are important in evaluating the potential strength in a stock, empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

For United Natural, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. And a stock's price usually doesn't keep moving higher in the absence of any trend in earnings estimate revisions. So, make sure to keep an eye on UNFI going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

United Natural belongs to the Zacks Food - Miscellaneous industry. Another stock from the same industry, Mama's Creations, Inc. (MAMA - Free Report) , closed the last trading session 1.1% higher at $8.10. Over the past month, MAMA has returned 15.6%.

Mama's Creations, Inc.'s consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.02. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of -60%. Mama's Creations, Inc. currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).


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