UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) CEO Steven S. Sintros Sells 3,207 Shares

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.04, for a total transaction of $619,079.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 22,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,357,105.84. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

UniFirst Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE UNF opened at $200.22 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $191.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.77 and a beta of 0.82. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. This is a positive change from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. UniFirst’s payout ratio is presently 16.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UniFirst from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $186.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in UniFirst by 16.5% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 367 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in UniFirst by 3.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,936 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in UniFirst by 60.5% during the third 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 period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 4,231 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Pullen Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 2.9% during the second quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.