Numerai GP LLC Purchases Shares of 11,595 UniFirst Corporation $UNF

Numerai GP LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 11,595 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,939,000. Numerai GP LLC owned 0.06% of UniFirst as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in UniFirst during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,684,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in UniFirst by 60.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 307,341 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $51,384,000 after buying an additional 115,802 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UniFirst during the third quarter worth approximately $18,177,000. Engine Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of UniFirst in the second quarter valued at approximately $11,688,000. Finally, Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of UniFirst in the third quarter valued at approximately $8,442,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst Stock Performance

Shares of UNF opened at $273.89 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $225.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $190.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.23 and a beta of 0.69. UniFirst Corporation has a 52 week low of $147.66 and a 52 week high of $283.77.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $621.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $615.23 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.68% and a net margin of 5.70%.The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. UniFirst has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.580-6.980 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that UniFirst Corporation will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.365 per share. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 19.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $198.00 price target on UniFirst in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on UniFirst from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of UniFirst in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research raised UniFirst from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of UniFirst from $182.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $214.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UniFirst news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.54, for a total value of $347,758.56. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 6,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,534,745.94. This trade represents a 18.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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).