Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Acquires New Position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 1,513 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNF. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 60.5% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in UniFirst by 1,627.3% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 190 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in UniFirst by 16.5% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 367 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in UniFirst in the 2nd quarter worth about $92,000. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of UniFirst during the 3rd quarter worth about $109,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $186.25.

UniFirst Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNF opened at $186.29 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $193.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.01. UniFirst Co. has a 52 week low of $149.58 and a 52 week high of $208.20. The firm has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.98 and a beta of 0.84.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This is a positive change from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.02%.

Insider Transactions at UniFirst

In other news, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total value of $113,337.96. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,086,075. The trade was a 9.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total value of $1,814,215.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,320,968.30. This represents a 35.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 13,294 shares of company stock worth $2,546,632. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.