UniFirst Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:UNF)

UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 6,752 call options on the company. This is an increase of 2,836% compared to the average daily volume of 230 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on UNF. Zacks Research upgraded shares of UniFirst from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of UniFirst in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, UBS Group set a $262.00 target price on shares of UniFirst in a research note on Monday, July 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.67.

UniFirst Stock Performance

NYSE UNF opened at $256.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.65 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $267.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $259.85. UniFirst has a one year low of $147.66 and a one year high of $306.67.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The textile maker reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.04 by ($0.14). UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 4.34%. The business had revenue of $645.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $634.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.23 EPS. UniFirst’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that UniFirst will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UNF. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of UniFirst during the second quarter worth $580,008,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,085 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $154,467,000 after purchasing an additional 16,208 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of UniFirst by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 158,466 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $41,908,000 after purchasing an additional 6,541 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of UniFirst in the 2nd quarter worth $30,584,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in UniFirst by 75.8% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 107,196 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $28,349,000 after buying an additional 46,221 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UniFirst Company Profile

UniFirst Corporation (NYSE: UNF) provides workplace uniforms, workwear rental, and textile services to businesses and organizations. Its offerings include uniform rental and laundering, work garments, protective apparel, floor mats, restroom supplies, first-aid products, and other workplace service programs.

The company also provides specialized apparel and services for industries with particular cleanliness or safety requirements, including healthcare, manufacturing, food processing, and cleanroom environments.