Strs Ohio Raises Stake in Unifirst Corporation $UNF

Strs Ohio raised its holdings in Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) by 8.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,300 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Unifirst were worth $998,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Unifirst by 474.1% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 155 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Unifirst by 59.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Unifirst in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in shares of Unifirst in the first quarter valued at approximately $87,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Unifirst during the first quarter worth approximately $104,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on UNF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Unifirst in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $175.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Unifirst from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Unifirst in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group set a $182.00 price target on shares of Unifirst in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Unifirst from $152.00 to $145.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $174.75.

Unifirst Trading Down 1.2%

UNF stock opened at $149.94 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.79 and a beta of 0.81. Unifirst Corporation has a 52 week low of $147.66 and a 52 week high of $243.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $166.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.07.

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $614.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $607.02 million. Unifirst had a net margin of 6.10% and a return on equity of 7.11%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.39 earnings per share. Unifirst has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.580-6.980 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Unifirst Corporation will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Unifirst Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $0.365 dividend. This represents a $1.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. This is a positive change from Unifirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Unifirst’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.30%.

Unifirst Profile

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.