Wealth Alliance Acquires Shares of 1,227 UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Wealth Alliance acquired a new stake in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,227 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of UNF. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 187.4% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 273 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of UniFirst in the first quarter worth $69,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 28.9% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 393 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of UniFirst in the first quarter worth $103,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 16.7% in the second quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 579 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on UNF. UBS Group raised their price target on UniFirst from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays raised their price target on UniFirst from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com upgraded UniFirst from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective on shares of UniFirst in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.75.

UniFirst Stock Performance

Shares of UNF stock opened at $158.51 on Friday. UniFirst Co. has a 52-week low of $150.50 and a 52-week high of $187.22. The company has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a PE ratio of 25.94 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s fifty day moving average is $167.70 and its 200 day moving average is $169.57.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 27th. The textile maker reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.19). UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.19% and a net margin of 4.92%. The business had revenue of $590.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $587.56 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that UniFirst Co. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 21.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UniFirst

In other UniFirst news, EVP William Masters Ross sold 2,282 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.27, for a total transaction of $399,966.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,034 shares in the company, valued at $707,039.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

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.