Governors Lane LP Makes New Investment in UniFirst Corporation $UNF

Governors Lane LP acquired a new stake in UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 15,100 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,913,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Engine Capital Management LP raised its holdings in UniFirst by 640.5% during the 4th quarter. Engine Capital Management LP now owns 459,871 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $88,709,000 after buying an additional 397,772 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its position in UniFirst by 164.2% during the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 367,786 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $70,946,000 after acquiring an additional 228,586 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of UniFirst by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 451,194 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $87,035,000 after acquiring an additional 143,853 shares during the period. Tweedy Browne Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UniFirst in the fourth quarter valued at $19,687,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of UniFirst in the 4th quarter worth about $12,318,000. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

UniFirst Price Performance

Shares of UNF opened at $260.09 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.24 and a beta of 0.63. UniFirst Corporation has a 1-year low of $147.66 and a 1-year high of $283.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $261.81 and a 200 day moving average of $234.17.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The textile maker reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $622.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $614.91 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.49% and a net margin of 5.49%.The business’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that UniFirst Corporation will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.365 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.78%.

About UniFirst

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).