UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $235.60 and last traded at $235.60, with a volume of 29740 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $169.33.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on UNF shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.25.

UniFirst Trading Up 5.1 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $190.08 and its 200-day moving average is $186.51. The stock has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.69 and a beta of 0.87.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.09. UniFirst had a net margin of 5.99% and a return on equity of 7.47%. The company had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.26 earnings per share. UniFirst’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that UniFirst Co. will post 7.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a boost from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is 18.02%.

Insider Activity

In other UniFirst news, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total value of $1,814,215.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,320,968.30. This trade represents a 35.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total value of $113,337.96. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,625 shares in the company, valued at $1,086,075. This trade represents a 9.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 13,294 shares of company stock worth $2,546,632. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of UNF. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 60.5% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of UniFirst by 1,627.3% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 190 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 16.5% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 367 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of UniFirst by 291.6% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 466 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new position in UniFirst in the 3rd quarter worth about $109,000. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.