Vestis Co. (NYSE:VSTS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Vestis Co. (NYSE:VSTS) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.56.

Several research firms have commented on VSTS. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Vestis in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Vestis in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays cut Vestis from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th.

Insider Activity at Vestis

In other Vestis news, CEO Kim Scott purchased 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $19.14 per share, for a total transaction of $287,100.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 183,131 shares in the company, valued at $3,505,127.34. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VSTS. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Vestis in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Vestis during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. CI Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Vestis during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Vestis during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in Vestis during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. 97.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vestis Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE VSTS opened at $18.57 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $18.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.61. Vestis has a 52 week low of $13.83 and a 52 week high of $22.37.

Vestis (NYSE:VSTS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $717.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $724.72 million. The company’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vestis will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Vestis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.035 dividend. This represents a $0.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th.

About Vestis

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.