UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Wednesday morning.

Separately, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.25.

UniFirst Price Performance

Shares of UNF opened at $200.22 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $191.10 and a 200-day moving average of $179.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.77 and a beta of 0.82. UniFirst has a 1 year low of $149.58 and a 1 year high of $205.38.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a boost from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. UniFirst’s payout ratio is presently 16.99%.

Insider Transactions at UniFirst

In other UniFirst news, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total value of $113,337.96. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,625 shares in the company, valued at $1,086,075. The trade was a 9.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.04, for a total value of $619,079.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,357,105.84. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,294 shares of company stock worth $2,546,632 in the last quarter. 0.74% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UniFirst

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in UniFirst by 291.6% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 466 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in UniFirst by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 349,298 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $69,401,000 after purchasing an additional 4,136 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in UniFirst by 464.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,220 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $8,188,000 after purchasing an additional 33,919 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in UniFirst during the 3rd quarter valued at about $301,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in shares of UniFirst by 9.0% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 8,231 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,635,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the period. 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.