UniFirst’s (UNF) “Underweight” Rating Reaffirmed at Barclays

Barclays reiterated their underweight rating on shares of UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $152.00 price target on the textile maker’s stock, down from their prior price target of $180.00.

UNF has been the subject of several other reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on UniFirst from $218.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com cut UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on UniFirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.00.

UniFirst Stock Performance

Shares of UNF stock opened at $163.40 on Friday. UniFirst has a fifty-two week low of $149.58 and a fifty-two week high of $243.70. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $204.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.11. The company has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.89 and a beta of 0.88.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 2nd. The textile maker reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $602.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $602.81 million. UniFirst had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that UniFirst will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.41%.

Insider Transactions at UniFirst

In related news, 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 transaction of $274,024.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,361,682.25. This represents a 16.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UniFirst

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 3.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,936 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in UniFirst in the 3rd quarter valued at about $219,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in UniFirst by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,069 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,401,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of UniFirst in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $239,000. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About UniFirst

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.