StockNews.com Downgrades UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) to Buy

StockNews.com lowered shares of UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning.

Separately, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, UniFirst presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $186.25.

UniFirst Price Performance

NYSE UNF opened at $215.15 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $190.08 and its 200-day moving average is $186.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.69 and a beta of 0.87. UniFirst has a one year low of $149.58 and a one year high of $243.70.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.09. UniFirst had a net margin of 5.99% and a return on equity of 7.47%. The business had revenue of $604.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $606.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that UniFirst will post 7.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a boost from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total transaction of $113,337.96. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,086,075. This represents a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total value of $1,814,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 17,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,320,968.30. This represents a 35.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,294 shares of company stock valued at $2,546,632. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UniFirst

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of UniFirst by 1,627.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 190 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in UniFirst by 60.5% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in UniFirst by 16.5% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 367 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in UniFirst by 291.6% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 466 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of UniFirst in the 3rd quarter valued at about $109,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About UniFirst

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.