Legal & General Group Plc Buys Shares of 32,161 UniFirst Corporation $UNF

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 32,161 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $8,505,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in UniFirst in the 2nd quarter valued at $580,008,000. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in UniFirst by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 865,014 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $166,861,000 after purchasing an additional 75,524 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 787,418 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $151,895,000 after buying an additional 14,751 shares in the last quarter. Engine Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 640.5% during the fourth quarter. Engine Capital Management LP now owns 459,871 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $88,709,000 after buying an additional 397,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position 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 buying an additional 143,853 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on UNF. UBS Group set a $262.00 price target on shares of UniFirst in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of UniFirst from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, UniFirst has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $246.67.

UniFirst Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:UNF opened at $277.23 on Wednesday. UniFirst Corporation has a 52-week low of $147.66 and a 52-week high of $306.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $283.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $266.68. The stock has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.73 and a beta of 0.61.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 1st. The textile maker reported $1.09 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $634.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $627.66 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that UniFirst Corporation will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a $0.365 dividend. This represents a $1.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. UniFirst’s payout ratio is presently 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).