UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) VP Sells $113,337.96 in Stock

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total transaction of $113,337.96. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,086,075. The trade was a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

UniFirst Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE UNF opened at $200.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 25.77 and a beta of 0.82. UniFirst Co. has a 1-year low of $149.58 and a 1-year high of $205.38. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $191.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $179.88.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is a positive change from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UniFirst

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in UniFirst by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 367 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in UniFirst by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,936 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 60.5% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 4,231 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $726,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pullen Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on UNF. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UniFirst from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UniFirst presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.25.

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.