UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Shares Bought by Jones Financial Companies Lllp

Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 187.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 359 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $61,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 464.6% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $1,974,000 after acquiring an additional 2,281 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in UniFirst during the 4th quarter worth $255,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 32,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in UniFirst by 74.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 740 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE UNF opened at $205.17 on Tuesday. 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 $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.24 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $215.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $198.60.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 6.00%. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

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. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th.

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.