Short Interest in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Increases By 15.3%

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 166,100 shares, an increase of 15.3% from the January 15th total of 144,100 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 115,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

UniFirst Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of UNF stock traded down $2.71 on Monday, reaching $213.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 72,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 125,689. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.06. UniFirst has a 12-month low of $149.58 and a 12-month high of $243.70. The company has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.30 and a beta of 0.89.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.09. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 6.00%. The business had revenue of $604.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that UniFirst will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 17.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UniFirst news, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.04, for a total transaction of $619,079.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 22,571 shares in the company, valued at $4,357,105.84. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total value of $113,337.96. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,086,075. This represents 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 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UniFirst

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNF. Independence Bank of Kentucky bought a new position in shares of UniFirst during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 60.5% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 1,105.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 229 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 252.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 345 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 187.2% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 359 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UniFirst currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $197.50.

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.