undamentalytics Newsletter

United Natural Foods Inc key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2026, United Natural Foods Inc had return on equity of 5.3%, an operating margin of 0.7%, debt equal to 97.7% of equity and a current ratio of 1.29. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

United Natural Foods Inc: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year2010Jul 20102011Jul 20112012Jul 20122013Aug 20132014Aug 20142015Aug 20152016Jul 20162017Jul 20172018Jul 20182019Aug 20192020Aug 20202021Jul 20212022Jul 20222023Jul 20232024Aug 20242025Aug 20252026Aug 2026
Gross margin18.5%18.2%17.5%16.9%16.6%15.4%15.1%15.4%14.9%14.4%14.6%14.6%14.5%13.6%13.6%13.3%13.5%
Operating margin3.1%2.9%3.0%3.1%3.1%3.0%2.6%2.4%2.2%−0.9%−0.7%1.1%1.5%0.4%0.0%−0.1%0.7%
Net margin1.8%1.7%1.7%1.8%1.8%1.7%1.5%1.4%1.6%−1.3%−1.0%0.6%0.9%0.1%−0.4%−0.4%0.3%
Free-cash-flow margin0.3%0.2%0.7%−0.4%−1.2%−1.0%3.0%2.3%0.6%0.3%1.1%1.1%0.3%1.0%−0.3%0.8%1.0%
Return on equity10.8%10.2%9.9%10.4%10.8%10.6%8.7%8.1%9.2%−17.0%−20.7%11.2%15.0%1.4%−6.6%−7.4%5.3%
Return on assets5.5%5.8%6.3%6.7%6.2%5.7%4.7%4.5%5.6%−5.6%−3.7%2.0%3.3%0.3%−1.5%−1.6%1.1%
Asset turnover3.003.423.623.763.383.393.143.233.504.413.603.573.824.034.154.204.24
Current ratio1.371.822.832.802.662.932.602.362.561.691.561.431.571.441.441.321.29
Debt to equity47.0%18.8%23.5%24.0%67.2%53.4%28.8%14.0%17.4%206.7%232.5%151.5%120.8%114.2%128.8%121.3%97.7%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)19.7x25.9x32.8x31.5x27.2x16.7x13.8x13.5x14.0xn/mn/m1.4x2.7x0.8x0.0xn/m1.7x
Effective tax rate39.0%39.4%39.4%38.1%39.5%39.6%39.6%39.3%22.5%——18.6%18.1%———17.6%
Capital spending as % of revenue1.5%0.9%0.6%1.1%2.2%1.6%0.5%0.6%0.4%1.0%0.7%1.2%0.9%1.1%1.1%0.7%0.7%
Free cash flow ÷ net income16.1%11.8%38.0%−20.6%−67.6%−57.9%202.9%166.9%39.6%——204.0%32.3%>999%——384.5%
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow——————0.0%0.0%37.6%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%20.6%—0.0%15.5%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

4 of 7 checks passed · August 1, 2026
What it owns · $7.1bn
Short-term assets $3.1bnLonger-term assets $4.0bn
What it owes, and who funded it · $7.1bn
Short-term liabilities $2.4bnLonger-term liabilities $3.0bnShareholders' equity $1.6bn
  • Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $3.1bn of assets due within a year against $2.4bn of liabilities due within a year.
  • Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $3.1bn short-term assets against $3.0bn of longer-dated liabilities.
  • More cash than debt $37m of cash against $1.6bn of debt.
  • Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 96% of equity.
  • Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 137% to 96% over five years.
  • A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $540m of operating cash flow against $1.6bn of debt.
  • Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $211m against $126m of interest.

From United Natural Foods Inc's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

32 /100

Weak moat

How hard United Natural Foods's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

  • Returns on capital 0 / 20

    Net income has been a median 0.8% of total assets over 10 years.

  • Pricing power 8 / 20

    Gross margin has been a median 14.5%, moving by 0.7 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.

  • Durability 0 / 20

    Operating margin has been a median 0.5%; its worst year was -0.9%.

  • Cash conversion 9 / 20

    Free cash flow was positive in 9 of 10 years, at a median 0.9% of revenue.

  • Discipline 15 / 20

    The diluted share count rose 4.7% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.1% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Low. In this industry, the business rests on physical assets, regulated networks or products AI itself depends on.

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

Compare with peers

Head to head: UNFI vs USFDPFGC vs UNFISYY vs UNFICHEF vs UNFI

More: Food Distributors stocks compared, Consumer Staples sector, rankings of US companies

Figures from United Natural Foods Inc's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 26, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to United Natural Foods Inc.