Insider Selling: UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Major Shareholder Sells $1,491,971.57 in Stock

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) major shareholder Cecelia Levenstein sold 9,733 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.29, for a total transaction of $1,491,971.57. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 58,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,940,639.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Cecelia Levenstein also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, June 12th, Cecelia Levenstein sold 5,500 shares of UniFirst stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.76, for a total transaction of $856,680.00.
• On Monday, June 3rd, Cecelia Levenstein sold 11,000 shares of UniFirst stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.73, for a total transaction of $1,746,030.00.

UniFirst Stock Up 14.0 %

Shares of UniFirst stock opened at $176.04 on Thursday. UniFirst Co. has a twelve month low of $149.58 and a twelve month high of $187.22. The stock has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.81 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s fifty day moving average is $160.26 and its 200 day moving average is $167.22.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The textile maker reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $590.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.56 million. UniFirst had a net margin of 4.92% and a return on equity of 6.19%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UniFirst Co. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.60%.

Institutional Trading of UniFirst

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNF. Norges Bank bought a new stake in UniFirst during the fourth quarter valued at $28,362,000. M&G Plc bought a new stake in UniFirst during the first quarter valued at $19,842,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 1,555.8% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 55,320 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $9,594,000 after purchasing an additional 51,979 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 42.7% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 114,520 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $18,668,000 after purchasing an additional 34,279 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 446,335 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $81,639,000 after purchasing an additional 21,685 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of UniFirst from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of UniFirst from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.75.

About UniFirst

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.