What Makes United Natural Foods (UNFI) a Strong Momentum Stock: Buy Now?

Momentum investing is all about the idea of following a stock's recent trend, which can be in either direction. In the 'long' context, investors will essentially be "buying high, but hoping to sell even higher." And for investors following this methodology, taking advantage of trends in a stock's price is key; once a stock establishes a course, it is more than likely to continue moving in that direction. The goal is that once a stock heads down a fixed path, it will lead to timely and profitable trades.Even though momentum is a popular stock characteristic, it can be tough to define. Debate surrounding which are the best and worst metrics to focus on is lengthy, but the Zacks Momentum Style Score, part of the Zacks Style Scores, helps address this issue for us.Below, we take a look at United Natural Foods (UNFI), a company that currently holds a Momentum Style Score of A. We also talk about price change and earnings estimate revisions, two of the main aspects of the Momentum Style Score.It's also important to note that Style Scores work as a complement to the Zacks Rank, our stock rating system that has an impressive track record of outperformance. United Natural Foods currently has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy). Our research shows that stocks rated Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and #2 (Buy) and Style Scores of A or B outperform the market over the following one-month period.You can see the current list of Zacks #1 Rank Stocks here >>>Set to Beat the Market?In order to see if UNFI is a promising momentum pick, let's examine some Momentum Style elements to see if this organic and specialty foods distributor holds up.A good momentum benchmark for a stock is to look at its short-term price activity, as this can reflect both current interest and if buyers or sellers currently have the upper hand. It is also useful to compare a security to its industry, as this can help investors pinpoint the top companies in a particular area.For UNFI, shares are up 18.36% over the past week while the Zacks Food - Miscellaneous industry is down 0.15% over the same time period. Shares are looking quite well from a longer time frame too, as the monthly price change of 28.85% compares favorably with the industry's 1.2% performance as well.Considering longer term price metrics, like performance over the last three months or year, can be advantageous as well. Over the past quarter, shares of United Natural Foods have risen 70.54%, and are up 71.69% in the last year. On the other hand, the S&P 500 has only moved 7.63% and 29.8%, respectively.Investors should also take note of UNFI's average 20-day trading volume. Volume is a useful item in many ways, and the 20-day average establishes a good price-to-volume baseline; a rising stock with above average volume is generally a bullish sign, whereas a declining stock on above average volume is typically bearish. Right now, UNFI is averaging 820,452 shares for the last 20 days.Earnings OutlookThe Zacks Momentum Style Score also takes into account trends in estimate revisions, in addition to price changes. Please note that estimate revision trends remain at the core of Zacks Rank as well. A nice path here can help show promise, and we have recently been seeing that with UNFI.Over the past two months, 3 earnings estimates moved higher compared to none lower for the full year. These revisions helped boost UNFI's consensus estimate, increasing from $0.64 to $0.72 in the past 60 days. Looking at the next fiscal year, 2 estimates have moved upwards while there have been no downward revisions in the same time period.Bottom LineTaking into account all of these elements, it should come as no surprise that UNFI is a #1 (Strong Buy) stock with a Momentum Score of A. If you've been searching for a fresh pick that's set to rise in the near-term, make sure to keep United Natural Foods on your short list.Free Today: Profiting from The Future’s Brightest Energy SourceThe demand for electricity is growing exponentially. At the same time, we’re working to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels like oil and natural gas. Nuclear energy is an ideal replacement.Leaders from the US and 21 other countries recently committed to TRIPLING the world’s nuclear energy capacities. 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