UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Short Interest Update

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 166,100 shares, a growth of 15.3% from the January 15th total of 144,100 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 115,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Insider Activity at UniFirst

In other news, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 22,571 shares in the company, valued at $4,357,105.84. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total value of $1,814,215.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,320,968.30. This represents a 35.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,294 shares of company stock worth $2,546,632 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNF. Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new position in UniFirst during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 60.5% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in UniFirst by 1,105.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 229 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in UniFirst by 252.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 345 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in UniFirst by 187.2% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 359 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on UNF shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UniFirst has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $197.50.

UniFirst Trading Down 1.3 %

UNF stock opened at $213.50 on Monday. UniFirst has a one year low of $149.58 and a one year high of $243.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $203.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $195.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of 27.30 and a beta of 0.89.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.09. UniFirst had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The business had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.26 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that UniFirst will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is 17.90%.

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.