UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Shares Sold by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lowered its stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,771 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 98 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of UniFirst by 22.2% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 2,862 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UniFirst in the 2nd quarter worth $92,000. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of UniFirst in the second quarter valued at $326,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in UniFirst by 8.9% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 622,048 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $106,700,000 after buying an additional 51,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in UniFirst by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 4,231 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of UniFirst from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $186.25.

UniFirst Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNF opened at $177.30 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.70. UniFirst Co. has a 52 week low of $149.58 and a 52 week high of $208.20. The company has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 22.82 and a beta of 0.84.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is a boost from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.02%.

Insider Activity

In other UniFirst news, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total value of $1,814,215.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 17,390 shares in the company, valued at $3,320,968.30. The trade was a 35.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total value of $113,337.96. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,086,075. This trade represents a 9.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,294 shares of company stock worth $2,546,632. 0.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About UniFirst

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.