Moran Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Moran Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,281 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $3,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of UniFirst during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,167,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of UniFirst by 41.7% during the 2nd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 13,342 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $2,068,000 after purchasing an additional 3,925 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of UniFirst by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 628,270 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $97,390,000 after purchasing an additional 10,143 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of UniFirst by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 32,900 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $5,100,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in UniFirst by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 17,073 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $2,646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.69% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of UNF opened at $170.73 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $165.83 and a 200 day moving average of $166.38. UniFirst Co. has a 52-week low of $150.50 and a 52-week high of $205.59. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 30.93 and a beta of 0.80.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 18th. The textile maker reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $571.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $568.22 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 4.64%. The business’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that UniFirst Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 6th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is a positive change from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on UNF shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of UniFirst in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays assumed coverage on UniFirst in a research report on Friday, October 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on UniFirst from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $177.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at UniFirst

In other UniFirst news, VP David A. Difillippo sold 6,280 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.26, for a total value of $1,044,112.80. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,111 shares in the company, valued at $1,681,054.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About UniFirst

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.