Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $763,000 Position in Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its position in Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) by 12.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,386 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 649 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Unifirst were worth $763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Unifirst by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 763,689 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $130,660,000 after buying an additional 15,517 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Unifirst by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 263,322 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $45,052,000 after buying an additional 12,598 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Unifirst by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 162,751 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $28,319,000 after purchasing an additional 8,253 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Unifirst by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 149,762 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $26,059,000 after purchasing an additional 6,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Unifirst during the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,576,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unifirst Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNF opened at $175.68 on Wednesday. Unifirst Corporation has a 52-week low of $156.34 and a 52-week high of $243.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $178.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $188.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.58 and a beta of 0.85.

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

Unifirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Unifirst’s dividend payout ratio is 17.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on UNF. Robert W. Baird set a $197.00 price objective on shares of Unifirst in a research report on Monday, June 30th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Unifirst from $196.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Unifirst in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $175.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays set a $152.00 price objective on shares of Unifirst and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Unifirst has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $179.50.

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.