Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC Sells 234,916 Shares of UniFirst Corporation $UNF

Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC cut its position in shares of UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) by 80.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 57,060 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 234,916 shares during the quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $14,356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its stake in UniFirst by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 865,014 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $166,861,000 after buying an additional 75,524 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of UniFirst by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 787,418 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $151,895,000 after buying an additional 14,751 shares in the last quarter. Engine Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 640.5% in the 4th quarter. Engine Capital Management LP now owns 459,871 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $88,709,000 after buying an additional 397,772 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 46.8% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 164.2% in the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 367,786 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $70,946,000 after acquiring an additional 228,586 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on UNF. Weiss Ratings downgraded UniFirst from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group set a $262.00 price objective on UniFirst in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, UniFirst currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $246.67.

UniFirst Stock Performance

NYSE UNF opened at $293.86 on Friday. UniFirst Corporation has a 52-week low of $147.66 and a 52-week high of $295.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $270.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $250.74. The company has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a PE ratio of 46.35 and a beta of 0.63.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 1st. The textile maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.84). The company had revenue of $634.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $627.66 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.44% and a net margin of 4.65%.The business’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that UniFirst Corporation will post 7.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a $0.365 dividend. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 23.03%.

UniFirst Company Profile

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).