UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Shares Purchased by Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 173.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,968 shares of the textile maker's stock after buying an additional 30,458 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.26% of UniFirst worth $9,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in UniFirst by 16.5% during the 3rd 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 raised its stake in UniFirst by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,936 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in UniFirst by 60.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in UniFirst by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 4,231 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pullen Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 2.9% during the second quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UniFirst news, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust - 1 sold 9,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total transaction of $1,814,215.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,390 shares in the company, valued at $3,320,968.30. This represents a 35.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.04, for a total value 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 $4,357,105.84. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 13,294 shares of company stock worth $2,546,632. Company insiders own 0.74% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com lowered UniFirst from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $186.25.

UniFirst Trading Down 2.0 %

UniFirst stock traded down $3.92 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $196.40. 46,683 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 84,128. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.34 and a beta of 0.84. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $193.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.91. UniFirst Co. has a fifty-two week low of $149.58 and a fifty-two week high of $208.20.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is a boost from UniFirst's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. UniFirst's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.02%.

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.