Insider Selling: UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) CEO Sells 3,207 Shares of Stock

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,357,105.84. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

UniFirst Stock Up 2.1 %

UNF opened at $200.23 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $191.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.99. UniFirst Co. has a 52-week low of $149.58 and a 52-week high of $205.38. The company has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.77 and a beta of 0.82.

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 issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is an increase from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UniFirst

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of UniFirst by 1,627.3% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 190 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 60.5% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in UniFirst by 69.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 414 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of UniFirst by 16.5% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 367 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of UniFirst in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $92,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on UNF. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com raised UniFirst from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, UniFirst presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.25.

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.