Rhumbline Advisers Decreases Position in Unifirst Corporation $UNF

Rhumbline Advisers lessened its position in Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 47,027 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 5,907 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Unifirst were worth $7,862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UNF. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Unifirst by 285.7% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 135 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Unifirst in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Unifirst by 474.1% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 155 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Unifirst by 378.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 153 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in Unifirst in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on UNF. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Unifirst from $182.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $198.00 price objective on shares of Unifirst in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Unifirst in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Unifirst from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $181.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,464 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.54, for a total value of $347,758.56. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 6,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,534,745.94. This represents a 18.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Unifirst Price Performance

Shares of Unifirst stock opened at $238.40 on Friday. Unifirst Corporation has a 1-year low of $147.66 and a 1-year high of $243.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $206.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of 31.53 and a beta of 0.73.

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The textile maker reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $621.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $615.23 million. Unifirst had a return on equity of 6.68% and a net margin of 5.70%.Unifirst’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. Unifirst has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.580-6.980 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Unifirst Corporation will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Unifirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.365 per share. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Unifirst’s payout ratio is presently 19.31%.

About Unifirst

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).