Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in UniFirst Corporation $UNF

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,400 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,610,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of UNF. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in UniFirst by 474.1% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 155 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of UniFirst in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 378.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 153 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of UniFirst in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of UniFirst by 1,244.0% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 336 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst Stock Up 0.9%

UNF opened at $266.74 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a PE ratio of 36.14 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $262.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $240.13. UniFirst Corporation has a 52 week low of $147.66 and a 52 week high of $283.77.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 1st. The textile maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.84). The firm had revenue of $634.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $627.66 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.49% and a net margin of 5.49%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UniFirst Corporation will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.365 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. UniFirst’s payout ratio is presently 19.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on UNF. Weiss Ratings raised UniFirst from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $206.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $228.25.

UniFirst 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).