HighTower Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Vestis Corporation $VSTS

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Vestis Corporation (NYSE:VSTS) by 43.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 354,642 shares of the company’s stock after selling 277,593 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.27% of Vestis worth $1,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its holdings in Vestis by 57.7% in the 2nd quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 9,692,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,535,000 after buying an additional 3,547,000 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Vestis by 327.2% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,461,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119,157 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vestis by 19.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,593,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,049,000 after acquiring an additional 923,459 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vestis by 45.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,731,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,652,000 after acquiring an additional 851,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Vestis by 37.5% in the second quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 2,439,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,980,000 after purchasing an additional 665,376 shares during the last quarter. 97.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Vestis from $5.30 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Vestis from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Vestis in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Vestis in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Vestis from $5.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $5.88.

Vestis Trading Up 0.3%

Vestis stock opened at $7.86 on Monday. Vestis Corporation has a 1 year low of $3.98 and a 1 year high of $12.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $7.04 and its 200-day moving average is $5.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.17. The company has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.23 and a beta of 0.48.

Vestis (NYSE:VSTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.04. Vestis had a negative net margin of 1.75% and a positive return on equity of 2.08%. The business had revenue of $663.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $665.77 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Vestis Corporation will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vestis news, Director Keith A. Meister purchased 209,842 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $6.79 per share, for a total transaction of $1,424,827.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,813,963 shares in the company, valued at $134,536,808.77. The trade was a 1.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas A. Pertz purchased 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $6.90 per share, for a total transaction of $103,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 322,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,221,869. This represents a 4.89% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought 1,205,810 shares of company stock valued at $8,138,302 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Vestis Profile

Vestis Corporation provides uniform rentals and workplace supplies in the United States and Canada. Its products include uniform options, such as shirts, pants, outerwear, gowns, scrubs, high visibility garments, particulate-free garments, and flame-resistant garments, as well as shoes and accessories; and workplace supplies, including managed restroom supply services, first-aid supplies and safety products, floor mats, towels, and linens. The company serves manufacturing, hospitality, retail, food processing, food service, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, automotive, and cleanroom industries.