UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $235.00 to $194.00. The stock had previously closed at $197.57, but opened at $171.50. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. UniFirst shares last traded at $172.25, with a volume of 95,993 shares trading hands.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling at UniFirst

In other news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total transaction of $274,024.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,361,682.25. This represents a 16.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of UniFirst by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,708,242 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $292,263,000 after buying an additional 6,393 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in UniFirst by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 763,689 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $130,660,000 after purchasing an additional 15,517 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,326 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $66,268,000 after purchasing an additional 20,056 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of UniFirst by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 365,047 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $62,456,000 after buying an additional 32,860 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of UniFirst by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 349,298 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $69,401,000 after buying an additional 4,136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst Stock Up 0.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.75 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s fifty day moving average is $212.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $198.77.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.09. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 6.00%. The business had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $606.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is 17.90%.

UniFirst Company 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.