Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,121 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 6,136 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.27% of UniFirst worth $8,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of UNF. CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of UniFirst in the third quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in UniFirst by 148.8% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 6,454 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,282,000 after purchasing an additional 3,860 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of UniFirst by 16.5% in 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. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 97.8% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 2,860 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $568,000 after buying an additional 1,414 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in UniFirst by 3.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 229,749 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $45,640,000 after buying an additional 8,587 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total transaction of $274,024.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,361,682.25. This trade represents a 16.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
UniFirst Price Performance
UniFirst stock traded up $7.54 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $178.41. The stock had a trading volume of 216,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 92,353. The firm has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.81 and a beta of 0.89. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $212.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $198.77. UniFirst Co. has a twelve month low of $149.58 and a twelve month high of $243.70.
UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 6.00%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.
UniFirst Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. UniFirst's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.90%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages have weighed in on UNF. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UniFirst from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price on UniFirst from $235.00 to $194.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on UniFirst
About UniFirst
(
Free Report)
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.
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