1,492 Shares in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Purchased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,492 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in UniFirst by 16.5% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 367 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 3.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,936 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of UniFirst by 60.5% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in UniFirst by 1.9% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,069 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,401,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P lifted its position in UniFirst by 1.0% during the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 13,348 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $2,652,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at UniFirst

In other UniFirst news, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total value of $113,337.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,086,075. This represents a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.04, for a total transaction of $619,079.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,357,105.84. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,294 shares of company stock valued at $2,546,632 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on UNF shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of UniFirst from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $197.50.

UniFirst Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of UNF traded down $1.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $220.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 70,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 188,989. UniFirst Co. has a 52 week low of $149.58 and a 52 week high of $243.70. The company's fifty day moving average price is $197.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.26. The stock has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a PE ratio of 28.20 and a beta of 0.87.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. UniFirst had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.26 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that UniFirst Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. UniFirst's payout ratio is 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.