UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $297.67 and last traded at $295.13, with a volume of 2445 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $294.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on UNF. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of UniFirst from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group set a $262.00 price objective on shares of 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 a consensus price target of $246.67.

UniFirst Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.38 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $271.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $252.49.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $634.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $627.66 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.44% and a net margin of 4.65%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that UniFirst Corporation will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of UniFirst

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UNF. Burney Co. increased its stake in UniFirst by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Burney Co. now owns 4,329 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of UniFirst by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,876 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of UniFirst by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,027 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $758,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,238 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 768 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $148,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

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).