...- U.S.-based wholesale food distributor United Natural Foods Inc.'s (UNFI's) higher earnings and free cash flow generation are driving an improvement in S&P Global Ratings-adjusted leverage. - As a result, we raised our issuer credit rating on UNFI to 'B+' from 'B' and the senior unsecured notes rating to 'B-' from '###+'. - At the same time, we raised our rating on the company's $1.8 billion secured term loan due 2025 to '##-' from 'B.' The improved recovery rating reflects our expectation for substantial recovery ('2'; rounded estimate: 70%) in the event of default. - The stable outlook reflects our expectation that the company will continue to improve its sales through cross-selling and new customer wins with adjusted EBITDA margins remaining in the low-3% area despite consumer behavior partly normalizing following the elevated demand during the pandemic. We also believe the company will continue to pursue debt reduction, with debt to EBITDA remaining around 4.5x on a sustained basis....
