Martingale Asset Management L P Has $2.66 Million Holdings in Unifirst Corporation $UNF

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management L P increased its holdings in Unifirst Corporation by 14.8%, owning approximately 15,267 shares valued at $2.66 million.
• Unifirst Corporation reported $2.13 earnings per share for the last quarter, slightly surpassing the estimated $2.09, while their revenue was $610.78 million, lower than the expected $614.50 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, set to be paid on September 26th, with a dividend yield of 0.8%.

Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its stake in shares of Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 14.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,267 shares of the textile maker's stock after buying an additional 1,967 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P owned approximately 0.08% of Unifirst worth $2,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Unifirst by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 162,751 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $28,319,000 after purchasing an additional 8,253 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Unifirst by 148.4% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 76,742 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $13,130,000 after buying an additional 45,850 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Unifirst by 27,715.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,498 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $6,873,000 after buying an additional 39,356 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Unifirst by 2.3% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 18,871 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $3,284,000 after buying an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Unifirst by 11.5% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,446 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $600,000 after buying an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Unifirst from $196.00 to $194.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $197.00 price objective on shares of Unifirst in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Barclays set a $152.00 price objective on shares of Unifirst and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Unifirst in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $175.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $179.50.

Unifirst Stock Performance

Shares of UNF stock traded up $1.55 on Wednesday, hitting $177.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 65,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 129,467. The stock's 50 day moving average is $176.39 and its 200-day moving average is $184.93. Unifirst Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $156.34 and a fifty-two week high of $243.70. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 21.78 and a beta of 0.85.

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 2nd. The textile maker reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.04. Unifirst had a net margin of 6.18% and a return on equity of 7.35%. The business had revenue of $610.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $614.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. Unifirst's revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Unifirst has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.600-8.00 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Unifirst Corporation will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Unifirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Unifirst's payout ratio is 17.20%.

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.