Natixis Advisors LLC Has $30.30 Million Stake in UniFirst Corporation $UNF

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 157,085 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,782 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.87% of UniFirst worth $30,302,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in UNF. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 27,152 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $4,724,000 after buying an additional 1,974 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,069 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $882,000 after buying an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,966 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,560,000 after buying an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 37.3% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 105,331 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $18,328,000 after buying an additional 28,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 3.9% in 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 valued at $6,075,000 after buying an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

UniFirst Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of UniFirst stock opened at $271.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.79 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $259.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $227.60. UniFirst Corporation has a 12-month low of $147.66 and a 12-month high of $283.77.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The textile maker reported $1.13 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $614.91 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.49% and a net margin of 5.49%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that UniFirst Corporation will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.5%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.78%.

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).