Cecelia Levenstein Sells 9,733 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Stock

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) major shareholder Cecelia Levenstein sold 9,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.29, for a total transaction of $1,491,971.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 58,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,940,639.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Cecelia Levenstein also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, June 12th, Cecelia Levenstein sold 5,500 shares of UniFirst stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.76, for a total transaction of $856,680.00.
• On Monday, June 3rd, Cecelia Levenstein sold 11,000 shares of UniFirst stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.73, for a total transaction of $1,746,030.00.

UniFirst Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of UNF opened at $154.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of 25.28 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.16. UniFirst Co. has a 1-year low of $149.58 and a 1-year high of $187.22.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 27th. The textile maker reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.19). UniFirst had a net margin of 4.92% and a return on equity of 6.19%. The business had revenue of $590.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.56 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that UniFirst Co. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 21.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UniFirst from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of UniFirst from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UniFirst

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UNF. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of UniFirst during the 4th quarter valued at $28,362,000. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of UniFirst during the 1st quarter valued at $19,842,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of UniFirst by 1,555.8% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 55,320 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $9,594,000 after acquiring an additional 51,979 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of UniFirst by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 114,520 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $18,668,000 after acquiring an additional 34,279 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 446,335 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $81,639,000 after buying an additional 21,685 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

About UniFirst

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.