Yousif Capital Management LLC Sells 110 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Yousif Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,715 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $978,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 464.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,220 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $8,188,000 after acquiring an additional 33,919 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 11,519 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,974,000 after acquiring an additional 2,281 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of UniFirst during the 4th quarter worth approximately $255,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 365,047 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $62,456,000 after acquiring an additional 32,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 164.2% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 8,387 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,666,000 after acquiring an additional 5,213 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

UniFirst Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE UNF opened at $213.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $203.72 and a 200-day moving average of $195.05. UniFirst Co. has a 12 month low of $149.58 and a 12 month high of $243.70. The company has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of 27.30 and a beta of 0.89.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.09. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 6.00%. The business had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that UniFirst Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is 17.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised 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. StockNews.com downgraded UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $197.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at UniFirst

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