TimesSquare Capital Management LLC Acquires New Position in Unifirst Corporation $UNF

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 108,720 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $18,177,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC owned about 0.59% of Unifirst at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of UNF. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Unifirst during the second quarter worth $35,684,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Unifirst by 90.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 191,539 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $36,051,000 after acquiring an additional 90,751 shares during the period. Engine Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Unifirst during the 2nd quarter worth about $11,688,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in Unifirst by 85.4% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 105,005 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $19,764,000 after purchasing an additional 48,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Unifirst by 1,492.4% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 49,571 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $9,330,000 after purchasing an additional 46,458 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Unifirst in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Unifirst from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $198.00 price objective on shares of Unifirst in a report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Unifirst from $182.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Unifirst from $152.00 to $145.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $181.00.

Unifirst Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNF opened at $239.14 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of 31.63 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $200.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $179.33. Unifirst Corporation has a 1 year low of $147.66 and a 1 year high of $241.32.

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 7th. The textile maker reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.16). Unifirst had a return on equity of 6.68% and a net margin of 5.70%.The firm had revenue of $621.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $615.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Unifirst has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.580-6.980 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Unifirst Corporation will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Unifirst Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.365 dividend. This represents a $1.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Unifirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.31%.

Unifirst Company Profile

UniFirst Corporation (NYSE: UNF) is a leading provider of customized uniform rental and facility service programs in North America and Europe. The company specializes in the rental, laundering and maintenance of workwear, corporate apparel and protective garments for a broad range of industries, including manufacturing, automotive, hospitality, healthcare and food processing. UniFirst also offers a suite of facility service products such as entrance mats, restroom supplies, wipers, mops and hygienic services designed to help customers maintain clean and safe environments.

In addition to its core uniform rental business, UniFirst has expanded its product portfolio to include safety and first-responder gear, flame-resistant clothing, high-visibility apparel and personal protective equipment (PPE).