UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 154,300 shares, a drop of 22.0% from the November 15th total of 197,900 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 80,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at UniFirst

In other news, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,357,105.84. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total value of $1,814,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,320,968.30. This trade represents a 35.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,294 shares of company stock valued at $2,546,632 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UniFirst

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in UniFirst by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,630 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in UniFirst by 43.9% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 79,625 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $13,658,000 after acquiring an additional 24,305 shares during the period. Oak Family Advisors LLC boosted its position in UniFirst by 3.3% in the second quarter. Oak Family Advisors LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in UniFirst by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 7,600 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,304,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Pullen Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of UniFirst by 2.9% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, UniFirst currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $186.25.

UniFirst Stock Performance

Shares of UNF traded down $2.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $190.05. The company had a trading volume of 70,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 83,701. The company has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.46 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $193.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.42. UniFirst has a 1-year low of $149.58 and a 1-year high of $208.20.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. This is an increase from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 18.02%.

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.