UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Short Interest Down 16.9% in February

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) saw a significant decrease in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 138,100 shares, a decrease of 16.9% from the January 31st total of 166,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 117,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days. Approximately 0.9% of the company's shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNF has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com downgraded UniFirst from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UniFirst news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total value of $274,024.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at $1,361,682.25. This represents a 16.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in UniFirst by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in UniFirst by 16.5% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 367 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in UniFirst by 3.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,936 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in UniFirst by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 740 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in UniFirst by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,231 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UniFirst Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:UNF traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $209.23. 86,079 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 138,256. The company has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.76 and a beta of 0.89. UniFirst has a one year low of $149.58 and a one year high of $243.70. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $211.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $197.90.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.09. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 6.00%. The firm had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $606.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.26 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that UniFirst will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. UniFirst's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.