Congruence Capital LLC Acquires New Shares in UniFirst Corporation $UNF

Congruence Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 19,550 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $3,771,000. UniFirst accounts for about 1.4% of Congruence Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in UniFirst during the third quarter valued at about $1,597,000. DDD Partners LLC bought a new position in UniFirst during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,614,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC bought a new position in UniFirst during the third quarter valued at about $18,177,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in UniFirst by 14.2% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 58,435 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $9,770,000 after buying an additional 7,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank raised its holdings in UniFirst by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 31,163 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $6,011,000 after buying an additional 12,465 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UniFirst Stock Performance

UniFirst stock opened at $265.23 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $261.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $231.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of 35.94 and a beta of 0.63. UniFirst Corporation has a 52 week low of $147.66 and a 52 week high of $283.77.

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

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.365 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. UniFirst’s payout ratio is presently 19.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

UniFirst Company 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).