Vanguard Group Inc. Has $294.52 Million Position in Unifirst Corporation $UNF

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,692,668 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 15,574 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.12% of Unifirst worth $294,524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Unifirst by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,231 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Unifirst by 59.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Unifirst by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 7,613 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Unifirst by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Unifirst by 88.7% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 266 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on UNF shares. Barclays set a $152.00 target price on shares of Unifirst and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $197.00 price target on shares of Unifirst in a research note on Monday, June 30th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Unifirst from $196.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Unifirst in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $175.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $179.50.

Unifirst Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of UNF stock opened at $173.34 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 21.29 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.84. Unifirst Corporation has a 12 month low of $156.34 and a 12 month high of $243.70.

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

Unifirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Unifirst’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.20%.

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.