303,844 Shares in UniFirst Corporation $UNF Acquired by Madison Avenue Partners LP

Madison Avenue Partners LP purchased a new stake in UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 303,844 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $58,612,000. UniFirst makes up approximately 2.5% of Madison Avenue Partners LP’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 474.1% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 155 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of UniFirst in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 378.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 153 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of UniFirst in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 1,244.0% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 336 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on UNF. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of UniFirst from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $206.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UniFirst has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $228.25.

UniFirst Stock Down 2.2%

UniFirst stock opened at $260.09 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $261.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.17. UniFirst Corporation has a 12 month low of $147.66 and a 12 month high of $283.77. The stock has a market cap of $4.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.24 and a beta of 0.63.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 1st. The textile maker reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.21 by ($0.08). UniFirst had a net margin of 5.49% and a return on equity of 6.49%. The business had revenue of $622.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $614.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that UniFirst Corporation will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.365 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. UniFirst’s payout ratio is currently 19.78%.

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).