UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Shares Sold by Avior Wealth Management LLC

Avior Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,388 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 336 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of UniFirst by 1,627.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 190 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in UniFirst by 60.5% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of UniFirst by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 367 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 291.6% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 466 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UniFirst during the 3rd quarter worth about $109,000. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UniFirst news, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total transaction of $113,337.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,086,075. This represents a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.04, for a total transaction of $619,079.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,357,105.84. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,294 shares of company stock valued at $2,546,632 over the last three months. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on UNF. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $197.50.

UniFirst Price Performance

UNF stock opened at $220.50 on Friday. UniFirst Co. has a 12 month low of $149.58 and a 12 month high of $243.70. The company has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.20 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $197.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.26.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. UniFirst had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that UniFirst Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.90%.

UniFirst Profile

UniFirst Corporation provides workplace uniforms and protective work wear clothing in the United States, Europe, and Canada. The company operates through U.S. and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, Manufacturing, Specialty Garments Rental and Cleaning, and First Aid segments. It designs, manufactures, personalizes, rents, cleans, delivers, and sells a range of uniforms and protective clothing, including shirts, pants, jackets, coveralls, lab coats, smocks, and aprons; and specialized protective wear, such as flame resistant and high visibility garments.