Madison Avenue Partners LP acquired a new stake in UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF – Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 303,844 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $58,612,000. UniFirst accounts for approximately 2.5% of Madison Avenue Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Madison Avenue Partners LP owned about 1.68% of UniFirst at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in UniFirst in the third quarter valued at about $1,597,000. DDD Partners LLC purchased a new position in UniFirst in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,614,000. Comerica Bank raised its position in UniFirst by 66.7% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 31,163 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $6,011,000 after purchasing an additional 12,465 shares during the period. Tweedy Browne Co LLC purchased a new position in UniFirst in the fourth quarter valued at about $19,687,000. Finally, Cannon Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UniFirst during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,312,000. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several analysts have recently weighed in on UNF shares. Barclays raised their target price on UniFirst from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded UniFirst from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on UniFirst from $206.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $228.25.
UniFirst Stock Performance
NYSE:UNF opened at $260.09 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.24 and a beta of 0.63. UniFirst Corporation has a one year low of $147.66 and a one year high of $283.77. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $261.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $234.17.
UniFirst (NYSE:UNF – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The textile maker reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $622.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $614.91 million. UniFirst had a net margin of 5.49% and a return on equity of 6.49%. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that UniFirst Corporation will post 7.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.
UniFirst Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.365 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. UniFirst’s payout ratio is presently 19.78%.
UniFirst Company Profile
UniFirst Corporation (NYSE: UNF) is a leading provider of customized uniform rental and facility service programs in North America and Europe. The company specializes in the rental, laundering and maintenance of workwear, corporate apparel and protective garments for a broad range of industries, including manufacturing, automotive, hospitality, healthcare and food processing. UniFirst also offers a suite of facility service products such as entrance mats, restroom supplies, wipers, mops and hygienic services designed to help customers maintain clean and safe environments.
In addition to its core uniform rental business, UniFirst has expanded its product portfolio to include safety and first-responder gear, flame-resistant clothing, high-visibility apparel and personal protective equipment (PPE).
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