Bessemer Group Inc. Reduces Stake in UniFirst Corporation $UNF

Bessemer Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) by 92.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,700 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 19,464 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 92,841 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $23,358,000 after purchasing an additional 6,352 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in UniFirst by 11,454.2% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 20,682 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $5,203,000 after buying an additional 20,503 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in UniFirst during the 1st quarter valued at $887,000. Burney Co. lifted its position in UniFirst by 1.0% in the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 4,329 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abel Hall LLC purchased a new position in UniFirst during the first quarter worth $215,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of UniFirst from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group set a $262.00 target price on shares of UniFirst in a report on Monday, July 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, UniFirst currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $246.67.

UniFirst Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE UNF opened at $293.86 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $270.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $250.74. The stock has a market cap of $5.31 billion, a PE ratio of 46.35 and a beta of 0.63. UniFirst Corporation has a 12 month low of $147.66 and a 12 month high of $295.60.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 1st. The textile maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.84). UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.44% and a net margin of 4.65%.The company had revenue of $634.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $627.66 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UniFirst Corporation will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.365 per share. This represents a $1.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. UniFirst’s payout ratio is currently 23.03%.

UniFirst Company Profile

UniFirst Corporation (NYSE: UNF) is a leading provider of customized uniform rental and facility service programs in North America and Europe. The company specializes in the rental, laundering and maintenance of workwear, corporate apparel and protective garments for a broad range of industries, including manufacturing, automotive, hospitality, healthcare and food processing. UniFirst also offers a suite of facility service products such as entrance mats, restroom supplies, wipers, mops and hygienic services designed to help customers maintain clean and safe environments.

In addition to its core uniform rental business, UniFirst has expanded its product portfolio to include safety and first-responder gear, flame-resistant clothing, high-visibility apparel and personal protective equipment (PPE).