Vestis Co. (NYSE:VSTS) Announces $0.04 Quarterly Dividend

Vestis Co. (NYSE:VSTS) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, August 19th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.035 per share on Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th.

Vestis has a payout ratio of 17.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Vestis to earn $0.82 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.14 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.1%.

Vestis Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Vestis stock opened at $13.48 on Wednesday. Vestis has a fifty-two week low of $8.92 and a fifty-two week high of $22.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 2.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $12.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.18.

Vestis (NYSE:VSTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.06. Vestis had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 18.00%. The company had revenue of $698.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.33 million. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Vestis will post 0.64 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Douglas A. Pertz acquired 22,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.62 per share, with a total value of $260,776.04. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 218,046 shares in the company, valued at $2,533,694.52. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Vestis news, major shareholder Corvex Management Lp bought 100,000 shares of Vestis stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $12.17 per share, with a total value of $1,217,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 16,907,877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $205,768,863.09. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Douglas A. Pertz bought 22,442 shares of Vestis stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $11.62 per share, for a total transaction of $260,776.04. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 218,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,533,694.52. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 177,710 shares of company stock valued at $2,140,447 in the last 90 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VSTS shares. Baird R W cut shares of Vestis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Vestis from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Vestis from $19.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Vestis from $12.50 to $13.80 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut shares of Vestis from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.69.

Vestis Company Profile

Vestis Corporation provides uniform rentals and workplace supplies in the United States and Canada. Its products include uniform options, such as shirts, pants, outerwear, gowns, scrubs, high visibility garments, particulate-free garments, and flame-resistant garments, as well as shoes and accessories; and workplace supplies, including managed restroom supply services, first-aid supplies and safety products, floor mats, towels, and linens.