Unifirst (NYSE:UNF) Now Covered by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Unifirst (NYSE:UNF) in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set an “underweight” rating and a $175.00 price target on the textile maker’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 0.63% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Unifirst from $196.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $197.00 price objective on Unifirst in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Barclays set a $152.00 price objective on Unifirst and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $179.50.

Unifirst Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of UNF stock opened at $173.90 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $183.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $192.65. Unifirst has a 12 month low of $156.34 and a 12 month high of $243.70. The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36 and a beta of 0.86.

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 2nd. The textile maker reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.04. Unifirst had a return on equity of 7.35% and a net margin of 6.18%. The firm had revenue of $610.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $614.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Unifirst will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unifirst announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 8th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the textile maker to buy up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Unifirst

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UNF. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Unifirst by 85,558.5% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 307,514 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $53,507,000 after acquiring an additional 307,155 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Unifirst during the 4th quarter valued at $31,133,000. Voss Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Unifirst during the 1st quarter valued at $28,529,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Unifirst during the 4th quarter valued at $24,576,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Unifirst by 353.8% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 171,346 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $29,815,000 after acquiring an additional 133,588 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

About Unifirst

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.