UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Rating Lowered to "Buy" at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Separately, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $186.25.

UniFirst Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE UNF traded down $3.38 on Thursday, reaching $202.84. 49,086 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 84,296. The company has a 50 day moving average of $192.29 and a 200 day moving average of $180.69. UniFirst has a fifty-two week low of $149.58 and a fifty-two week high of $208.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a PE ratio of 26.11 and a beta of 0.82.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is a positive change 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 18.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total transaction of $113,337.96. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,086,075. The trade was a 9.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust - 1 sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total value of $1,814,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,390 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,320,968.30. This represents a 35.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,294 shares of company stock worth $2,546,632 in the last 90 days. 0.74% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UniFirst

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UniFirst during the third quarter worth approximately $10,270,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in UniFirst by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 332,187 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $65,989,000 after acquiring an additional 36,651 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of UniFirst by 25.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 173,315 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $29,729,000 after purchasing an additional 35,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of UniFirst by 464.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,220 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $8,188,000 after purchasing an additional 33,919 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.