UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) PT Raised to $175.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) had its price objective hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $170.00 to $175.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the textile maker’s stock.

UNF has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UniFirst from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Barclays increased their target price on UniFirst from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on UniFirst from $185.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on UniFirst from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $186.00.

UniFirst Price Performance

UNF opened at $171.53 on Thursday. UniFirst has a 1 year low of $149.58 and a 1 year high of $187.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $160.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.98. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 0.85.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 19.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UniFirst news, VP Michael A. Croatti sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total value of $304,200.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $971,243. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Michael A. Croatti sold 1,800 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total transaction of $304,200.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $971,243. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Cecelia Levenstein sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.73, for a total value of $1,746,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 87,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,898,081.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,033 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,882 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in UniFirst by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 825 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 848,299 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $155,162,000 after buying an additional 4,078 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 62.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 36,782 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $5,996,000 after buying an additional 14,087 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in UniFirst by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 203,465 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $37,216,000 after acquiring an additional 7,633 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.