State Street Corp Lowers Stock Position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

State Street Corp cut its holdings in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 0.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 585,198 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 1,581 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $116,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC increased its position in UniFirst by 67.7% during the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after buying an additional 2,707 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 164.2% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 8,387 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,666,000 after acquiring an additional 5,213 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 255.1% during the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 4,542 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $779,000 after acquiring an additional 3,263 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of UniFirst by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 622,048 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $106,700,000 after purchasing an additional 51,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in UniFirst in the 2nd quarter worth about $471,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UniFirst Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNF opened at $190.05 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.46 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $183.59. UniFirst Co. has a fifty-two week low of $149.58 and a fifty-two week high of $208.20.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UniFirst news, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total value of $1,814,215.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 17,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,320,968.30. This represents a 35.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.04, for a total value of $619,079.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 22,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,357,105.84. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,294 shares of company stock worth $2,546,632. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.