UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) VP Sells $274,024.05 in Stock

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total value of $274,024.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at $1,361,682.25. This represents a 16.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

UniFirst Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of UniFirst stock opened at $209.91 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.84 and a beta of 0.89. UniFirst Co. has a 52 week low of $149.58 and a 52 week high of $243.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $205.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $195.82.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.09. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 6.00%. The firm had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $197.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UniFirst

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNF. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in UniFirst by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,708,242 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $292,263,000 after buying an additional 6,393 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in UniFirst by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 763,689 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $130,660,000 after buying an additional 15,517 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in UniFirst by 5.2% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 654,495 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $130,015,000 after buying an additional 32,447 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in UniFirst by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,326 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $66,268,000 after buying an additional 20,056 shares during the period. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its position in UniFirst by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 365,047 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $62,456,000 after buying an additional 32,860 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

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.