UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Shares Bought by Principal Securities Inc.

Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 740 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in UniFirst during the third quarter valued at $10,270,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of UniFirst by 464.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,220 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $8,188,000 after purchasing an additional 33,919 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of UniFirst by 9.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in UniFirst by 5.2% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 654,495 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $130,015,000 after purchasing an additional 32,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 173.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 47,968 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $9,529,000 after buying an additional 30,458 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on UNF shares. StockNews.com lowered UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UniFirst has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $197.50.

UniFirst Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:UNF opened at $213.87 on Wednesday. UniFirst Co. has a 52 week low of $149.58 and a 52 week high of $243.70. The company has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.35 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $206.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.40.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.09. UniFirst had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The company had revenue of $604.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $606.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.90%.

Insider Transactions at UniFirst

In other news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total transaction of $274,024.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at $1,361,682.25. The trade was a 16.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst 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.