Bessemer Group Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in UniFirst Corporation $UNF

Bessemer Group Inc. lowered its position in UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) by 92.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,700 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 19,464 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of UNF. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 7.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 27,152 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $4,724,000 after acquiring an additional 1,974 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in UniFirst by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,069 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $882,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in UniFirst by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,966 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,560,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in UniFirst by 37.3% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 105,331 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $18,328,000 after purchasing an additional 28,589 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in UniFirst by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 34,914 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $6,075,000 after buying an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on UNF shares. UBS Group set a $262.00 target price on shares of UniFirst in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of UniFirst from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $246.67.

UniFirst Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of UniFirst stock opened at $293.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.31 billion, a PE ratio of 46.35 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $270.65 and a 200 day moving average of $250.74. UniFirst Corporation has a 12 month low of $147.66 and a 12 month high of $295.60.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 1st. The textile maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by ($0.84). The firm had revenue of $634.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $627.66 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.44% and a net margin of 4.65%.The business’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that UniFirst Corporation will post 7.49 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, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a $0.365 dividend. This represents a $1.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. UniFirst’s payout ratio is currently 23.03%.

UniFirst Profile

UniFirst Corporation (NYSE: UNF) is a leading provider of customized uniform rental and facility service programs in North America and Europe. The company specializes in the rental, laundering and maintenance of workwear, corporate apparel and protective garments for a broad range of industries, including manufacturing, automotive, hospitality, healthcare and food processing. UniFirst also offers a suite of facility service products such as entrance mats, restroom supplies, wipers, mops and hygienic services designed to help customers maintain clean and safe environments.

In addition to its core uniform rental business, UniFirst has expanded its product portfolio to include safety and first-responder gear, flame-resistant clothing, high-visibility apparel and personal protective equipment (PPE).