UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) CEO Sells $619,079.28 in Stock

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.04, for a total transaction of $619,079.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,357,105.84. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

UniFirst Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:UNF opened at $200.22 on Friday. UniFirst Co. has a twelve month low of $149.58 and a twelve month high of $205.38. The company’s 50 day moving average is $191.10 and its 200 day moving average is $179.49. The company has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 25.77 and a beta of 0.82.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is 16.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UniFirst

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UNF. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in UniFirst by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 17,912 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $3,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,634 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in UniFirst by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,695,590 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $294,066,000 after purchasing an additional 4,650 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in UniFirst by 69.7% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 414 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in UniFirst by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 16,093 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $2,789,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in UniFirst by 141.6% in the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 3,800 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,227 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of UniFirst from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $186.25.

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.