Quantbot Technologies LP Buys New Stake in Unifirst Corporation $UNF

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 9,551 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,597,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Unifirst by 5.5% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,204 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in Unifirst by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 4,359 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Unifirst by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,027 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $758,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Unifirst by 22.6% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 450 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Unifirst by 285.7% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 135 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unifirst Stock Down 0.5%

UNF stock opened at $231.57 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.63 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.92. Unifirst Corporation has a 52 week low of $147.66 and a 52 week high of $243.45.

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The textile maker reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $615.23 million. Unifirst had a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 6.68%. Unifirst’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. Unifirst has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.580-6.980 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Unifirst Corporation will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.365 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Unifirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Unifirst news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,464 shares of the business’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 transaction of $347,758.56. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 6,461 shares in the company, valued at $1,534,745.94. The trade was a 18.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on UNF. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Unifirst in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $198.00 price objective on Unifirst in a report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Unifirst from $182.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Unifirst from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $181.00.

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).