Arizona State Retirement System Has $726,000 Stock Holdings in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,231 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in UNF. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of UniFirst by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,695,590 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $294,066,000 after acquiring an additional 4,650 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in UniFirst by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 678,973 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $124,193,000 after purchasing an additional 21,115 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of UniFirst by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 622,048 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $106,700,000 after purchasing an additional 51,088 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 203,465 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $37,216,000 after buying an additional 7,633 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in UniFirst in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,362,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael A. Croatti sold 1,800 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total transaction of $304,200.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $971,243. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Michael A. Croatti sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total transaction of $304,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $971,243. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael Iandoli sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.30, for a total value of $132,512.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,759.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,990 shares of company stock valued at $2,065,585. Insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on UniFirst from $186.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of UniFirst from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of UniFirst from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of UniFirst from $185.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.00.

UniFirst Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:UNF opened at $189.05 on Monday. UniFirst Co. has a 1-year low of $149.58 and a 1-year high of $197.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 27.60 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $184.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.98.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The textile maker reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $603.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $600.97 million. UniFirst had a net margin of 5.44% and a return on equity of 6.93%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that UniFirst Co. will post 7.83 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 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.27%.

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.