State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 5,357 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its stake in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 32.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,192 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 5,357 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned 0.06% of UniFirst worth $1,920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in UniFirst during the second quarter worth $348,000. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of UniFirst by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 4,231 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of UniFirst by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 622,048 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $106,700,000 after purchasing an additional 51,088 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of UniFirst in the 2nd quarter valued at about $326,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UniFirst in the 2nd quarter valued at about $92,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on UNF shares. StockNews.com raised UniFirst from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on UniFirst from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $186.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $185.00 to $199.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UniFirst has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.00.

UniFirst Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:UNF opened at $188.20 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 27.47 and a beta of 0.81. UniFirst Co. has a 12-month low of $149.58 and a 12-month high of $197.88. The business has a 50 day moving average of $186.25 and a 200-day moving average of $171.66.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The textile maker reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $603.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.97 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 5.44%. Equities research analysts expect that UniFirst Co. will post 7.83 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is 19.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UniFirst news, EVP William Masters Ross sold 225 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.67, for a total transaction of $40,650.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $728,822.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Michael Iandoli sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.30, for a total value of $132,512.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,759.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP William Masters Ross sold 225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.67, for a total transaction of $40,650.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $728,822.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,257 shares of company stock worth $573,613 in the last quarter. 0.74% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

UniFirst Company 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.