Ionic Capital Management LLC Purchases New Position in UniFirst Corporation $UNF

Ionic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,500 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $482,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Governors Lane LP bought a new position in UniFirst during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,913,000. EVR Research LP bought a new position in UniFirst during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,929,000. Engine Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 640.5% in the 4th quarter. Engine Capital Management LP now owns 459,871 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $88,709,000 after purchasing an additional 397,772 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of UniFirst in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $12,318,000. Finally, Jain Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of UniFirst in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $223,000. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

UniFirst Price Performance

NYSE: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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $261.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $234.17.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 1st. The textile maker reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.21 by ($0.08). UniFirst had a net margin of 5.49% and a return on equity of 6.49%. The company had revenue of $622.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $614.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. UniFirst’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that UniFirst Corporation will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th 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 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on UniFirst from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. UBS Group raised their price objective on UniFirst from $206.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised UniFirst from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $228.25.

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).