UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

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

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

UniFirst Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE UNF opened at $200.23 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.77 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $179.88. UniFirst has a 12-month low of $149.58 and a 12-month high of $205.38.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is a boost from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.02%.

Insider Transactions at UniFirst

In related news, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.04, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total transaction of $113,337.96. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,086,075. This trade represents a 9.45 % decrease in their position. 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 Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNF. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 1,627.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 190 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of UniFirst by 69.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 414 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of UniFirst by 16.5% during the 3rd 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 bought a new stake in shares of UniFirst in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $92,000. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

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.