Short Interest in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Decreases By 22.0%

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 154,300 shares, a decrease of 22.0% from the November 15th total of 197,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 80,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at UniFirst

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UNF. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in UniFirst by 1,627.3% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 190 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 60.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of UniFirst by 16.5% during 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 purchased a new stake in UniFirst in the second quarter worth $92,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of UniFirst by 291.6% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 466 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of UniFirst stock traded down $2.66 on Friday, hitting $190.05. The stock had a trading volume of 70,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 83,701. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $193.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $183.42. UniFirst has a one year low of $149.58 and a one year high of $208.20. The stock has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.46 and a beta of 0.84.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. This is an increase from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is 18.02%.

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.