Renaissance Technologies LLC Has $4.38 Million Position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 36.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,600 shares of the textile maker's stock after buying an additional 6,900 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.14% of UniFirst worth $4,380,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC grew 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 worth $8,188,000 after purchasing an additional 33,919 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 11,519 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,974,000 after acquiring an additional 2,281 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in UniFirst in the 4th quarter valued at $255,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in UniFirst by 9.9% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,326 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $66,268,000 after purchasing an additional 20,056 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total value of $274,024.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at $1,361,682.25. This represents a 16.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on UNF shares. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $152.00 target price (down from $180.00) on shares of UniFirst in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on UniFirst from $218.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of UniFirst from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on UniFirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $180.00.

UniFirst Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of UNF traded up $1.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $177.53. 43,682 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 102,702. The firm's fifty day moving average is $189.52 and its 200 day moving average is $195.73. UniFirst Co. has a fifty-two week low of $149.58 and a fifty-two week high of $243.70. The company has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.70 and a beta of 0.88.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 2nd. The textile maker reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $602.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $602.81 million. UniFirst had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. UniFirst's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. Analysts anticipate that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 8th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the textile maker to purchase up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. UniFirst's dividend 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.