19,550 Shares in UniFirst Corporation $UNF Bought by Congruence Capital LLC

Congruence Capital LLC bought a new position in UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 19,550 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $3,771,000. UniFirst comprises about 1.4% of Congruence Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Congruence Capital LLC owned approximately 0.11% of UniFirst at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of UNF. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 164.2% in the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 367,786 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $70,946,000 after acquiring an additional 228,586 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of UniFirst by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 451,194 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $87,035,000 after buying an additional 143,853 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UniFirst in the third quarter worth $18,177,000. Tweedy Browne Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UniFirst in the fourth quarter worth $19,687,000. Finally, Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UniFirst in the third quarter worth $8,442,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on UNF shares. UBS Group raised their target price on UniFirst from $206.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on UniFirst from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised UniFirst from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $228.25.

UniFirst Trading Down 3.8%

UNF opened at $265.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.94 and a beta of 0.63. UniFirst Corporation has a 1 year low of $147.66 and a 1 year high of $283.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $261.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $231.73.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 1st. The textile maker reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $622.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $614.91 million. UniFirst had a net margin of 5.49% and a return on equity of 6.49%. UniFirst’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UniFirst Corporation will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.365 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.78%.

About UniFirst

UniFirst Corporation (NYSE: UNF) is a leading provider of customized uniform rental and facility service programs in North America and Europe. The company specializes in the rental, laundering and maintenance of workwear, corporate apparel and protective garments for a broad range of industries, including manufacturing, automotive, hospitality, healthcare and food processing. UniFirst also offers a suite of facility service products such as entrance mats, restroom supplies, wipers, mops and hygienic services designed to help customers maintain clean and safe environments.

In addition to its core uniform rental business, UniFirst has expanded its product portfolio to include safety and first-responder gear, flame-resistant clothing, high-visibility apparel and personal protective equipment (PPE).