Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Boosts Holdings in Vestis Corporation $VSTS

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in Vestis Corporation (NYSE:VSTS) by 27.4% during the first quarter, owning approximately 0.48% of the company valued at $6.3 million after buying an additional 137,243 shares.
• Research analysts have lowered their price targets for Vestis, with JPMorgan Chase setting it at $5.50 and Barclays at $5.00, both rating the stock as "underweight."
• Insider transactions saw Director Keith A. Meister purchase 377,277 shares at an average price of $5.89 each, resulting in a 2.10% increase in his position within the company.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its position in Vestis Corporation (NYSE:VSTS - Free Report) by 27.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 638,134 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 137,243 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned 0.48% of Vestis worth $6,318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Vestis by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 15,315 shares of the company's stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,534 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Vestis by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 606,901 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,249,000 after acquiring an additional 15,926 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vestis in the fourth quarter worth about $2,194,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Vestis by 45.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 7,882 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 2,479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in Vestis by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 174,000 shares of the company's stock worth $2,652,000 after acquiring an additional 12,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on VSTS. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Vestis from $10.00 to $5.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Vestis from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Vestis from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vestis currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $9.13.

Vestis Stock Performance

Shares of VSTS traded down $0.1550 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $4.6850. 932,400 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,371,008. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $5.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.10. Vestis Corporation has a 12-month low of $4.32 and a 12-month high of $17.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $617.67 million, a P/E ratio of -20.34 and a beta of 0.96.

Vestis (NYSE:VSTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05. The company had revenue of $673.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.65 million. Vestis had a positive return on equity of 3.76% and a negative net margin of 1.11%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.16 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Vestis Corporation will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vestis

In other news, Director Keith A. Meister bought 314,390 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $6.03 per share, for a total transaction of $1,895,771.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,803,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,387,510.97. This represents a 1.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders bought a total of 800,675 shares of company stock worth $4,777,432 over the last three months. Insiders own 13.60% of the company's stock.

About Vestis

Vestis Corporation provides uniform rentals and workplace supplies in the United States and Canada. Its products include uniform options, such as shirts, pants, outerwear, gowns, scrubs, high visibility garments, particulate-free garments, and flame-resistant garments, as well as shoes and accessories; and workplace supplies, including managed restroom supply services, first-aid supplies and safety products, floor mats, towels, and linens.