UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Price Target Raised to $175.00

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) had its target price upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $170.00 to $175.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the textile maker’s stock.

UNF has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on UniFirst from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on UniFirst from $185.00 to $199.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded UniFirst from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on UniFirst from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $186.00.

UniFirst Stock Performance

UNF opened at $171.53 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $160.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.10. UniFirst has a one year low of $149.58 and a one year high of $187.22.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The textile maker reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $590.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $587.56 million. UniFirst had a net margin of 5.44% and a return on equity of 6.93%. As a group, analysts predict that UniFirst will post 7.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 19.27%.

Insider Activity at UniFirst

In related news, VP Michael A. Croatti sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total value of $304,200.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $971,243. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other UniFirst news, VP Michael A. Croatti sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total transaction of $304,200.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $971,243. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Cecelia Levenstein sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.76, for a total transaction of $856,680.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 68,058 shares in the company, valued at $10,600,714.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,033 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,882 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNF. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in UniFirst by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,156 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,166,000 after buying an additional 968 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in UniFirst in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $279,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in UniFirst by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 707 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al lifted its stake in UniFirst by 62.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 36,782 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $5,996,000 after purchasing an additional 14,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in UniFirst in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $99,000. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UniFirst Company Profile

UniFirst Corporation provides workplace uniforms and protective work wear clothing in the United States, Europe, and Canada. The company operates through U.S. and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, Manufacturing, Specialty Garments Rental and Cleaning, and First Aid segments. It designs, manufactures, personalizes, rents, cleans, delivers, and sells a range of uniforms and protective clothing, including shirts, pants, jackets, coveralls, lab coats, smocks, and aprons; and specialized protective wear, such as flame resistant and high visibility garments.