Robert W. Baird Lowers UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Price Target to $197.00

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Robert W. Baird from $218.00 to $197.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the textile maker’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 11.61% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on UNF. UBS Group cut their price objective on UniFirst from $235.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th.

UniFirst Trading Up 0.7 %

UniFirst stock opened at $176.50 on Thursday. UniFirst has a 52 week low of $149.58 and a 52 week high of $243.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $207.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $198.47.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 2nd. The textile maker reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $602.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $602.81 million. UniFirst had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. UniFirst’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. Research analysts expect that UniFirst will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total transaction of $274,024.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,361,682.25. This represents a 16.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UniFirst

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of UniFirst by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,708,242 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $292,263,000 after acquiring an additional 6,393 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in UniFirst by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 763,689 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $130,660,000 after purchasing an additional 15,517 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,326 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $66,268,000 after purchasing an additional 20,056 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of UniFirst by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 365,047 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $62,456,000 after buying an additional 32,860 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 349,298 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $69,401,000 after buying an additional 4,136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.