Swiss National Bank Has $5.84 Million Stock Position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Swiss National Bank decreased its stake in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,400 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.16% of UniFirst worth $5,840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC increased its position in shares of UniFirst by 67.7% during the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 2,707 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 164.2% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 8,387 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,666,000 after acquiring an additional 5,213 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 255.1% during the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 4,542 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $779,000 after acquiring an additional 3,263 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 622,048 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $106,700,000 after acquiring an additional 51,088 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of UniFirst during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $471,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on UNF. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com downgraded UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.25.

UniFirst Price Performance

UNF opened at $202.84 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.53. The company has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a PE ratio of 26.11 and a beta of 0.82. UniFirst Co. has a 1 year low of $149.58 and a 1 year high of $208.20.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 16.99%.

Insider Activity at UniFirst

In other news, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total transaction of $1,814,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,320,968.30. This represents a 35.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.04, for a total value of $619,079.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 22,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,357,105.84. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,294 shares of company stock worth $2,546,632 in the last ninety days. 0.74% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

UniFirst Profile

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.