UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Price Target Raised to $235.00 at UBS Group

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) had its price target boosted by research analysts at UBS Group from $190.00 to $235.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the textile maker’s stock. UBS Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 9.23% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $197.50.

UniFirst Price Performance

NYSE UNF opened at $215.15 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.69 and a beta of 0.87. UniFirst has a 12 month low of $149.58 and a 12 month high of $243.70. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $190.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.51.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.09. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 5.99%. The business had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that UniFirst will post 7.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at UniFirst

In related news, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 22,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,357,105.84. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total transaction of $113,337.96. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,086,075. The trade was a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,294 shares of company stock worth $2,546,632 in the last ninety days. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UNF. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in UniFirst by 291.6% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 466 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in UniFirst by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 349,298 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $69,401,000 after purchasing an additional 4,136 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 464.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,220 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $8,188,000 after buying an additional 33,919 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in UniFirst in the third quarter worth approximately $301,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 9.0% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 8,231 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,635,000 after buying an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.