Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Buys Shares of 1,513 UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,513 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in UniFirst by 60.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in UniFirst by 1,627.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 190 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 16.5% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 367 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of UniFirst during the second quarter valued at $92,000. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of UniFirst during the third quarter valued at $109,000. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UniFirst presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.25.

UniFirst Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of UNF stock opened at $186.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.98 and a beta of 0.84. UniFirst Co. has a fifty-two week low of $149.58 and a fifty-two week high of $208.20.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. This is a boost from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. UniFirst’s payout ratio is currently 18.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UniFirst news, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.04, for a total transaction of $619,079.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,357,105.84. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total transaction of $113,337.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,086,075. This represents a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,294 shares of company stock worth $2,546,632 in the last ninety days. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

UniFirst Company 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.