Natural foods distributor United Natural Foods has been a strong performer during the pandemic. And its stock continues to significantly outperform the market. On Thursday, the Relative Strength (RS) Rating for United Natural stock passed a milestone as it jumped to an 88 rating.
The new 88 RS Rating means that United Natural stock is performing in the top 12% of all companies in terms of stock price performance over the past year. Market research shows that stocks that go on to make the biggest gains typically have an RS Rating north of 80 in the early stages of their moves.
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United Natural Stock RS Line Best Since 2018
United Natural stock's relative strength line, which measures a stock's performance vs. the S&P 500, is at the highest point since September 2018, though it has a ways to go to hit a fresh all-time high. Meanwhile, the distributor of Bob's Red Mill, Nature's Path Organic, Hain Celestial and other brands has a 75 Composite Rating and a middling 65 EPS Rating.
United Natural stock hit a late March 2020 bottom at an intraday low of 5 per share amid the Covid pandemic onset. From there it ratcheted up in stair-step fashion, soaring nearly 500% to a 57.89 high in December. It's consolidated since then in sync with the market and traded at 42.58 Thursday afternoon, up more than 4% for the day, rising above its 50-day line. While the stock is not near an ideal entry right now, see if it is able to form and break out from a proper consolidation.
Earnings last quarter dipped 8% to $1.13 per share on a 7% increase in sales to $7.42 billion. Though its earnings were weak, the prior quarter EPS soared 90%. The company says on its website that it will hold an earnings conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET on June 8 to discuss fiscal third quarter earnings.
Among Top Ranked In Group
United Natural stock holds the No. 3 rank among its peers in the food distributors group. Amcon Distributing is No. 2 and Sysco is No. 1 in the Wholesale-Food industry group.
As you try to find the best stocks to buy and watch, keep a close on eye on relative price strength.
This exclusive Relative Strength Rating from Investor's Business Daily identifies price performance with a 1 (worst) to 99 (best) score. The rating shows how a stock's price behavior over the trailing 52 weeks compares to all the other stocks in our database.
