Cannon Global Investment Management LLC Sells 4,300 Shares of UniFirst Corporation $UNF

Cannon Global Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) by 63.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,500 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 4,300 shares during the quarter. UniFirst accounts for approximately 1.2% of Cannon Global Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of UNF. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,876 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 2.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,027 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,238 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 768 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $148,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of UniFirst by 0.5% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 17,990 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $3,008,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

UniFirst Stock Performance

UNF stock opened at $265.71 on Friday. UniFirst Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $147.66 and a fifty-two week high of $283.77. The company has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.00 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $262.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $237.94.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The textile maker reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.21 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $622.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $614.91 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.49% and a net margin of 5.49%.UniFirst’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that UniFirst Corporation will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.365 dividend. This represents a $1.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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).