T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Unifirst Corporation $UNF

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Unifirst Corporation by 353.8% in the first quarter, now holding 171,346 shares valued at approximately $29.8 million.
• Analysts currently have a consensus rating of "Reduce" for Unifirst, with an average price target of $179.50, following varying ratings from firms like JPMorgan and UBS.
• Unifirst announced a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, scheduled for payment on September 26th, yielding an annualized rate of 0.8%.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 353.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 171,346 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 133,588 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.92% of Unifirst worth $29,815,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Unifirst by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 763,689 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $130,660,000 after acquiring an additional 15,517 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Unifirst by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 264,345 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $45,996,000 after acquiring an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. Voss Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Unifirst during the 1st quarter worth about $28,529,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 8,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Unifirst by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 149,762 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $26,059,000 after acquiring an additional 6,352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Unifirst Price Performance

Shares of UNF stock traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $177.76. The company had a trading volume of 18,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 128,813. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $176.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.58. Unifirst Corporation has a 52-week low of $156.34 and a 52-week high of $243.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.84 and a beta of 0.85.

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

Unifirst Announces Dividend

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

Unifirst Company 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.