American Century Companies Inc. Has $32.38 Million Stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 189,235 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 16,022 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 1.02% of UniFirst worth $32,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNF. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 3.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,936 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in UniFirst by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 740 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 8,140 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,393,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of UniFirst by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 790 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of UniFirst by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,924 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity at UniFirst

In other UniFirst news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 currently owned by insiders.

UniFirst Trading Down 0.1 %

UNF traded down $0.11 on Monday, hitting $173.79. 174,775 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 97,671. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $210.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $198.81. UniFirst Co. has a 52 week low of $149.58 and a 52 week high of $243.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22 and a beta of 0.89.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 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%. UniFirst's revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. UniFirst's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on UniFirst from $235.00 to $194.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of UniFirst from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th.

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.