Unifirst (NYSE:UNF) Now Covered by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Unifirst (NYSE:UNF) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an underweight rating and a $175.00 target price on the textile maker’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Barclays set a $152.00 target price on Unifirst and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $197.00 target price on Unifirst in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Unifirst from $196.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $179.50.

Unifirst Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:UNF opened at $178.43 on Monday. Unifirst has a 1-year low of $156.34 and a 1-year high of $243.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of 21.92 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50 day moving average is $183.99 and its 200-day moving average is $192.74.

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 2nd. The textile maker reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $610.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $614.50 million. Unifirst had a return on equity of 7.35% and a net margin of 6.18%. Unifirst’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.20 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Unifirst will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Unifirst announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the textile maker to buy up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Unifirst

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Unifirst by 85,558.5% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 307,514 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $53,507,000 after acquiring an additional 307,155 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Unifirst during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,133,000. Voss Capital LP bought a new position in Unifirst during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,529,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Unifirst during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $24,576,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Unifirst by 353.8% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 171,346 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $29,815,000 after purchasing an additional 133,588 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by 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.