Blair William & Co. IL Raises Holdings in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,491 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned approximately 0.12% of UniFirst worth $3,686,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of UNF. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in UniFirst during the 4th quarter worth about $28,362,000. M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of UniFirst in the 1st quarter valued at about $19,842,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 622,048 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $106,700,000 after acquiring an additional 51,088 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 25.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 173,315 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $29,729,000 after acquiring an additional 35,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 43.9% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 79,625 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $13,658,000 after acquiring an additional 24,305 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at UniFirst

In other news, VP Michael A. Croatti sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $971,243. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Michael A. Croatti sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $971,243. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP William Masters Ross sold 225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.67, for a total value of $40,650.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $728,822.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,257 shares of company stock valued at $573,613. Corporate insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on UniFirst from $186.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on UniFirst from $185.00 to $199.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on UniFirst from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised UniFirst from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UniFirst currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.00.

UniFirst Trading Down 0.8 %

UniFirst stock opened at $188.20 on Monday. UniFirst Co. has a twelve month low of $149.58 and a twelve month high of $197.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $186.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47 and a beta of 0.81.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The textile maker reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.31. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 5.44%. The company had revenue of $603.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $600.97 million. Equities analysts predict that UniFirst Co. will post 7.83 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.27%.

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.