Whole Foods Market (Nasdaq:WFMI) Remains Good Long-term Play

Even though Whole Foods Market (Nasdaq:WFMI) was downgraded by UBS (NYSE:UBS) from "Buy" to "Neutral" based on strong performance and valuation, it remains a good long-term investment, but investors are encouraged to look for a more attractive entry point.

UBS said, "Given Whole Foods’ stellar performance (+27% and +21% relative to the market in the past three months), we believe that Whole Foods’ valuation is now reflecting the much improved and recovered fundamental story and investors should look to better opportunities to buy for the long term...We continue to believe that WFMI has an attractive long term growth opportunity due to continuing secular trends towards healthier eating and a lack of credible competition in its segment."

Short term part of the challenge remains higher prices of food in a recessionary economic environment for Whole Foods.

Whole Foods closed Friday at $45.71, dropping $0.33, or 0.72 percent. UBS has a price target of $48 on them, increasing it from $45.