UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Trading 4.1% Higher After Earnings Beat

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)’s share price traded up 4.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $214.62 and last traded at $213.00. 61,892 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 286,318 shares. The stock had previously closed at $204.69.

The textile maker reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 5.99%. UniFirst’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.26 earnings per share.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This is a positive change from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. UniFirst’s payout ratio is currently 18.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on UNF shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price 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 downgraded UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, UniFirst currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UniFirst news, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 17,390 shares in the company, valued at $3,320,968.30. This represents a 35.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total value of $113,337.96. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,086,075. The trade was a 9.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,294 shares of company stock worth $2,546,632. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UniFirst

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 1,627.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 190 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of UniFirst by 291.6% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 466 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of UniFirst during the third quarter worth approximately $109,000. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

UniFirst Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $190.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.69 and a beta of 0.87.

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.