HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 403 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,472 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $1,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 32,860 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of UniFirst by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 349,298 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $69,401,000 after buying an additional 4,136 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 237,308 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $40,601,000 after purchasing an additional 7,559 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in UniFirst during the fourth quarter worth approximately $24,576,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in UniFirst by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 127,700 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $21,848,000 after buying an additional 2,198 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at UniFirst

In other news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,361,682.25. This trade represents a 16.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

UniFirst Stock Down 14.3 %

Shares of NYSE UNF opened at $169.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of 21.65 and a beta of 0.89. UniFirst Co. has a 52-week low of $149.58 and a 52-week high of $243.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $213.31 and a 200-day moving average of $198.98.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $604.91 million during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on UniFirst from $235.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday.

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.