Voss Capital LP Invests $5.69 Million in UniFirst Corporation $UNF

Voss Capital LP acquired a new position in UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 29,485 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $5,688,000. Voss Capital LP owned approximately 0.16% of UniFirst at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 787,418 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $151,895,000 after acquiring an additional 14,751 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 164.2% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 367,786 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $70,946,000 after acquiring an additional 228,586 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 60.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 307,341 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $51,384,000 after acquiring an additional 115,802 shares during the period. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 214,107 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $35,797,000 after acquiring an additional 36,179 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 157,085 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $30,302,000 after acquiring an additional 13,782 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on UniFirst from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on UniFirst from $206.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded UniFirst from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $228.25.

UniFirst Price Performance

UNF opened at $265.23 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $261.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $231.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.94 and a beta of 0.63. UniFirst Corporation has a one year low of $147.66 and a one year high of $283.77.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The textile maker reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $622.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $614.91 million. UniFirst had a net margin of 5.49% and a return on equity of 6.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UniFirst Corporation will post 7.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.365 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.78%.

UniFirst Profile

UniFirst Corporation (NYSE: UNF) is a leading provider of customized uniform rental and facility service programs in North America and Europe. The company specializes in the rental, laundering and maintenance of workwear, corporate apparel and protective garments for a broad range of industries, including manufacturing, automotive, hospitality, healthcare and food processing. UniFirst also offers a suite of facility service products such as entrance mats, restroom supplies, wipers, mops and hygienic services designed to help customers maintain clean and safe environments.

In addition to its core uniform rental business, UniFirst has expanded its product portfolio to include safety and first-responder gear, flame-resistant clothing, high-visibility apparel and personal protective equipment (PPE).