Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Grows Position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 252.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 345 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $59,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in UniFirst by 5.2% during the 3rd 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. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 32,860 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in UniFirst by 1.2% during the 3rd 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in UniFirst by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 229,749 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $45,640,000 after purchasing an additional 8,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 144,917 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $28,788,000 after acquiring an additional 24,082 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst Price Performance

UNF opened at $205.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $212.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $198.04. UniFirst Co. has a 1 year low of $149.58 and a 1 year high of $243.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.22 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $606.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.26 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total transaction of $274,024.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,361,682.25. This represents a 16.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.