PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Boosts Position in UniFirst Corporation $UNF

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) by 24.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,568 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,692 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $2,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 7.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 27,152 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $4,724,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 13.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,069 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $882,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,966 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,560,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in UniFirst by 37.3% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 105,331 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $18,328,000 after purchasing an additional 28,589 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in UniFirst by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 34,914 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $6,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group set a $262.00 price objective on UniFirst in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings cut UniFirst from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, UniFirst presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $246.67.

UniFirst Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of UniFirst stock opened at $301.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a PE ratio of 47.56 and a beta of 0.63. UniFirst Corporation has a twelve month low of $147.66 and a twelve month high of $306.67. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $272.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $253.19.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 1st. The textile maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.84). UniFirst had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 6.44%. The business had revenue of $634.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $627.66 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that UniFirst Corporation will post 7.49 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.365 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.03%.

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).