State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Acquires New Position in Vestis Co. (NYSE:VSTS)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new stake in Vestis Co. (NYSE:VSTS) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 149,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,160,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new stake in Vestis in the 4th quarter valued at about $22,818,000. Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in Vestis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $14,714,000. Private Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in Vestis in the 4th quarter valued at about $13,493,000. California Public Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Vestis in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,523,000. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Vestis by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 185,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,911,000 after acquiring an additional 60,000 shares during the period. 97.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VSTS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Vestis in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Vestis in a report on Thursday, January 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays lowered Vestis from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $17.00 to $19.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kim Scott bought 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.14 per share, for a total transaction of $287,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 183,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,505,127.34. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Vestis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VSTS opened at $18.90 on Friday. Vestis Co. has a 12 month low of $13.83 and a 12 month high of $22.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $18.82 and a 200-day moving average of $18.70.

Vestis (NYSE:VSTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $717.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $724.72 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vestis Co. will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vestis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.035 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%.

Vestis Company Profile

Vestis Corporation provides uniform rentals and workplace supplies in the United States and Canada. Its products include uniform options, such as shirts, pants, outerwear, gowns, scrubs, high visibility garments, particulate-free garments, and flame-resistant garments, as well as shoes and accessories; and workplace supplies, including managed restroom supply services, first-aid supplies and safety products, floor mats, towels, and linens.