Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $1 Million Position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its position in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,490 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 73 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $1,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in UniFirst in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $99,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in UniFirst by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 707 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance acquired a new stake in shares of UniFirst in the fourth quarter valued at about $224,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of UniFirst by 4.8% during the third quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,457 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in UniFirst in the third quarter valued at approximately $279,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of UniFirst from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com raised UniFirst from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on UniFirst from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.75.

UniFirst Stock Performance

Shares of UniFirst stock opened at $166.84 on Friday. UniFirst Co. has a 52 week low of $150.50 and a 52 week high of $187.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $165.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of 27.31 and a beta of 0.83.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 27th. The textile maker reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $590.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.56 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.19% and a net margin of 4.92%. Research analysts forecast that UniFirst Co. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP William Masters Ross sold 2,282 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.27, for a total value of $399,966.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $707,039.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

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.