Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $40.60 Million Stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 237,308 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,559 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.28% of UniFirst worth $40,601,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of UNF. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in UniFirst by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 365,047 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $62,456,000 after buying an additional 32,860 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 349,298 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $69,401,000 after purchasing an additional 4,136 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 19.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 144,917 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $28,788,000 after purchasing an additional 24,082 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 127,700 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $21,848,000 after acquiring an additional 2,198 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 72,807 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $12,457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at UniFirst

In other UniFirst news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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. This represents a 16.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th.

UniFirst Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:UNF opened at $204.09 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $215.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $198.42. UniFirst Co. has a twelve month low of $149.58 and a twelve month high of $243.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.10 and a beta of 0.89.

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

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.90%.

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.