UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Downgraded to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Separately, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.25.

UniFirst Price Performance

UniFirst stock opened at $202.84 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $192.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.53. UniFirst has a 1 year low of $149.58 and a 1 year high of $208.20. The stock has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.11 and a beta of 0.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at UniFirst

In other UniFirst news, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total transaction of $1,814,215.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total value of $113,337.96. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,086,075. This trade represents a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 13,294 shares of company stock worth $2,546,632. 0.74% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of UniFirst

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of UniFirst by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 367 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of UniFirst by 3.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,936 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of UniFirst by 60.5% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of UniFirst by 1.9% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 4,231 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Pullen Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of UniFirst by 2.9% in the second quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.