Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 6,352 Shares of UniFirst Corporation $UNF

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its UniFirst stake by 7.3% in the first quarter, buying 6,352 more shares and bringing its total holding to 92,841 shares worth about $23.4 million.
• UniFirst’s latest earnings missed analysts’ EPS expectations, reporting $1.09 versus the $1.93 estimate, though revenue of $634.4 million came in slightly above forecasts and was up 3.9% year over year.
• Analysts currently have a Hold consensus on UniFirst, with a consensus price target of $246.67, while the stock recently traded around $290 and the company also объявed a quarterly dividend of $0.365 per share.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 7.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,841 shares of the textile maker's stock after acquiring an additional 6,352 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.51% of UniFirst worth $23,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Burney Co. lifted its holdings in UniFirst by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Burney Co. now owns 4,329 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,876 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,326,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of UniFirst by 2.0% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,027 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $758,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,238 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,203,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in UniFirst by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 768 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $148,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of UniFirst from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group set a $262.00 price objective on UniFirst in a report on Monday, July 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $246.67.

UniFirst Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE:UNF opened at $290.06 on Tuesday. UniFirst Corporation has a twelve month low of $147.66 and a twelve month high of $295.60. The company has a fifty day moving average of $268.02 and a 200-day moving average of $248.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.75 and a beta of 0.63.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 1st. The textile maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.84). UniFirst had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 6.44%. The firm had revenue of $634.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $627.66 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that UniFirst Corporation will post 7.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.365 dividend. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. UniFirst's payout ratio is presently 23.03%.

UniFirst Profile

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).

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