Michael A. Croatti Sells 1,800 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Stock

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) VP Michael A. Croatti sold 1,800 shares of the company’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 value of $304,200.00. Following the completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

UniFirst Trading Up 14.0 %

UNF stock traded up $21.57 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $176.04. 235,659 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 87,382. UniFirst Co. has a 12-month low of $149.58 and a 12-month high of $187.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $159.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.66 and a beta of 0.85.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The textile maker reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $590.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.56 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.19% and a net margin of 4.92%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that UniFirst Co. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 21.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNF. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in UniFirst by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,156 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,166,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of UniFirst during the third quarter valued at $279,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in UniFirst by 42.7% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 114,520 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $18,668,000 after purchasing an additional 34,279 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in UniFirst by 2.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 106,946 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $17,433,000 after purchasing an additional 3,023 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in UniFirst by 22.1% in the third quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 707 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on UNF. StockNews.com raised shares of UniFirst from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on UniFirst from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on UniFirst from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UniFirst has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.75.

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.