UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on UniFirst from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays upped their price target 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 assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $177.75.

UniFirst Stock Down 2.1 %

UNF stock opened at $162.79 on Tuesday. UniFirst has a 52-week low of $150.50 and a 52-week high of $187.22. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.64 and a beta of 0.83.

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

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.60%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UniFirst

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,695,590 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $294,066,000 after purchasing an additional 4,650 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 848,299 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $155,162,000 after acquiring an additional 4,078 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 678,973 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $124,193,000 after acquiring an additional 21,115 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 446,335 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $81,639,000 after acquiring an additional 21,685 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 204,545 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $37,413,000 after acquiring an additional 1,471 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.