Vestis Corporation $VSTS Shares Bought by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vestis Corporation (NYSE:VSTS) by 46.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,731,475 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 550,000 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Vestis were worth $23,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VSTS. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in Vestis by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 12,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,414 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in Vestis in the third quarter worth $278,000. State of Wyoming increased its position in Vestis by 477.2% in the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 46,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $617,000 after buying an additional 38,197 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al increased its position in Vestis by 368.6% in the third quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 146,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,953,000 after buying an additional 115,000 shares during the period. Finally, Axon Capital LP bought a new stake in Vestis in the third quarter valued at $2,432,000. Institutional investors own 97.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Barber acquired 84,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $12.37 per share, for a total transaction of $1,045,265.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 867,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,727,536.14. The trade was a 10.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 15.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VSTS shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Vestis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Vestis from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Vestis from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Vestis from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vestis in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $12.66.

Vestis Stock Down 0.1%

Vestis stock opened at $14.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.57 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $14.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.72. Vestis Corporation has a 52 week low of $5.00 and a 52 week high of $16.90.

Vestis (NYSE:VSTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $661.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $668.94 million. Vestis had a negative net margin of 0.20% and a positive return on equity of 7.27%. On average, analysts expect that Vestis Corporation will post 0.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Vestis

Vestis Corporation provides uniform rental and workplace supplies services to businesses and other organizations. Its offerings include workwear, uniforms, floor mats, towels, linens, restroom supplies, and first-aid and safety products. The company also manages services such as delivery, laundering, and replacement of reusable items, helping customers maintain their workwear and workplace supplies. Vestis serves customers in the United States and Canada. It became an independent, publicly traded company in 2023 after separating from Aramark, where its business had operated as the Uniform Services division.