United Natural Foods CEO Andre Persaud to Step Down

United Natural Foods CEO Andre Persaud to step down as President and CEO of Retail effective July 25, 2025. His departure is part of the company's strategy to accelerate its retail business. Persaud will receive severance benefits and his equity awards will vest on a prorated basis. The company's stock has a neutral rating with a $21.00 price target.

United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) has announced that Andre Persaud will step down as President and CEO of its Retail division effective July 25, 2025. This move is part of the company's strategy to accelerate its retail business. Persaud will receive severance benefits as per the Severance Agreement and his equity awards will vest on a prorated basis [1].

The departure of Persaud qualifies as a termination under the Severance Agreement, which includes restrictive covenants and a release of claims against the company. The recent analyst rating on UNFI stock is a Hold with a $21.00 price target. According to TipRanks' AI Analyst, Spark, UNFI is rated Neutral, reflecting a balance of moderate financial performance with strong cash flow but ongoing profitability challenges [1].

The latest update from UBS has increased its price target for UNFI from $26 to $29, maintaining a Neutral rating. This adjustment highlights the ongoing recovery and potential growth opportunities for UNFI in the near future [2]. Wall Street analysts have an average target price of $27.00 for UNFI, indicating an upside of 2.82% from the current price of $26.26 [2].

UNFI reported strong third-quarter sales growth of 7.5% and a significant improvement in adjusted EBITDA, which grew by 21% compared to the prior year quarter. The company also generated $119 million in free cash flow and reduced its net leverage by 1.3 turns compared to last year's third quarter [2]. However, the company faced an IT systems security breach, which could potentially impact its operations and financial performance [2].

UNFI's CEO, Sandy Douglas, expressed confidence in the company's multi-year strategy and expects to realize its long-term financial targets at an accelerated pace compared to the initial targets. The company has revised its full-year outlook to reflect the estimated costs and charges associated with the previously disclosed cyber incident. The cyber incident is expected to impact fiscal 2025 net sales by approximately $350 to $400 million, net (loss) income by $50 to $60 million, and adjusted EBITDA by approximately $40 to $50 million [3].

References:
[1] https://www.tipranks.com/news/company-announcements/united-natural-foods-ceo-andre-persaud-to-step-down
[2] https://www.gurufocus.com/news/2984402/united-natural-foods-unfi-sees-price-target-boost-from-ubs-unfi-stock-news
[3] https://www.citybiz.co/article/718648/united-natural-foods-provides-business-update/