Insider Selling: UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) VP Sells 587 Shares of Stock

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

UniFirst Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of UNF stock opened at $200.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.77 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50 day moving average is $191.10 and its 200 day moving average is $179.49. UniFirst Co. has a 52-week low of $149.58 and a 52-week high of $205.38.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. This is an increase from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on UNF. StockNews.com raised shares of UniFirst from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UniFirst

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNF. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in UniFirst by 10.0% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 17,912 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $3,106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,634 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in UniFirst by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,695,590 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $294,066,000 after acquiring an additional 4,650 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in UniFirst by 69.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 414 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in UniFirst by 5.0% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 16,093 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $2,789,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its stake in UniFirst by 141.6% in the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 3,800 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,227 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.