VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Purchases New Position in Unifirst Corporation $UNF

Key Points

• The Virginia Retirement Systems purchased a new stake in UniFirst Corporation, acquiring 4,600 shares valued at approximately $866,000 in the second quarter.
• Analysts have varied ratings on UniFirst, with Barclays lowering its price target to $145.00 and UBS setting it at $182.00, while the stock has an average rating of "Reduce".
• UniFirst reported $2.28 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts’ expectations, but the company's revenue was down 4.0% compared to the previous year.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,600 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $866,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UNF. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Unifirst by 59.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Unifirst by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 7,613 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,325,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Unifirst by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 74,734 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $13,004,000 after acquiring an additional 1,927 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Unifirst by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 162,751 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $28,319,000 after acquiring an additional 8,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Unifirst in the 1st quarter valued at about $542,000. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Unifirst from $152.00 to $145.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group set a $182.00 price objective on shares of Unifirst in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Unifirst in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Unifirst in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $175.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $197.00 price objective on shares of Unifirst in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $174.75.

Unifirst Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNF opened at $155.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50 and a beta of 0.86. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $170.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.10. Unifirst Corporation has a one year low of $154.00 and a one year high of $243.70.

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $614.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $607.02 million. Unifirst had a net margin of 6.10% and a return on equity of 7.11%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.39 earnings per share. Unifirst has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.580-6.980 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Unifirst Corporation will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unifirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Unifirst's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.20%.

Unifirst 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.

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