UBS Group Increases UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Price Target to $186.00

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by research analysts at UBS Group from $184.00 to $186.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the textile maker's stock. UBS Group's price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.25% from the stock's current price.

UNF has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com lowered UniFirst from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 23rd. Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of UniFirst in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on UniFirst from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $177.75.

UniFirst Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:UNF traded up $1.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $173.43. The company had a trading volume of 151,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 86,206. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.12. UniFirst has a 1 year low of $150.50 and a 1 year high of $187.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21 and a beta of 0.82.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 3rd. The textile maker reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.20. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.01% and a net margin of 4.90%. The company had revenue of $593.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $589.64 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that UniFirst will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP William Masters Ross sold 2,282 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.27, for a total value of $399,966.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,034 shares in the company, valued at $707,039.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.74% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UniFirst

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in UniFirst in the fourth quarter worth about $288,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in UniFirst by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,690,940 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $309,290,000 after acquiring an additional 12,138 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in UniFirst by 44.3% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 41,769 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $7,640,000 after acquiring an additional 12,829 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in UniFirst by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,719 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $2,144,000 after acquiring an additional 978 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in UniFirst by 175.6% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 25,325 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $4,632,000 after acquiring an additional 16,137 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.