UBS Group Boosts UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Price Target to $235.00

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) had its price target increased by equities researchers at UBS Group from $190.00 to $235.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the textile maker’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 9.23% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on UNF. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com downgraded UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $197.50.

UniFirst Stock Performance

UniFirst stock opened at $215.15 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.69 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.51. UniFirst has a 1 year low of $149.58 and a 1 year high of $243.70.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at UniFirst

In other news, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total value of $1,814,215.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,390 shares in the company, valued at $3,320,968.30. This represents a 35.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.04, for a total value of $619,079.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 22,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,357,105.84. This trade represents a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 13,294 shares of company stock valued at $2,546,632. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UniFirst

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in UniFirst by 1.9% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 4,231 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $726,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UniFirst in the second quarter worth about $348,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 25.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 173,315 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $29,729,000 after buying an additional 35,604 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 144,090 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $24,716,000 after buying an additional 21,547 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in UniFirst by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 737,003 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $126,418,000 after acquiring an additional 23,069 shares in the last quarter. 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.