Bryce Point Capital LLC Takes $1.53 Million Position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Bryce Point Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,937 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,529,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of UniFirst by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,708,242 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $292,263,000 after purchasing an additional 6,393 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in UniFirst by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,326 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $66,268,000 after buying an additional 20,056 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 349,298 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $69,401,000 after acquiring an additional 4,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of UniFirst by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 237,308 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $40,601,000 after acquiring an additional 7,559 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNF has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut UniFirst from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $152.00 price target (down previously from $180.00) on shares of UniFirst in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $218.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $180.00.

Insider Activity at UniFirst

In other news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total value of $274,024.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,361,682.25. This trade represents a 16.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

UniFirst Price Performance

Shares of UniFirst stock traded up $0.81 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $164.22. The company had a trading volume of 103,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 150,229. UniFirst Co. has a twelve month low of $149.58 and a twelve month high of $243.70. The company has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.00 and a beta of 0.88. The company's 50-day moving average is $204.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $198.25.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 2nd. The textile maker reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $602.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $602.81 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 6.00%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. UniFirst's payout ratio is 17.41%.

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.