Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Buys 2,281 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 24.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,519 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,281 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of UniFirst worth $1,974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 60.5% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 1,627.3% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 190 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in UniFirst by 16.5% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 367 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 291.6% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 466 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new position in UniFirst during the third quarter worth approximately $109,000. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut UniFirst from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $197.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,571 shares in the company, valued at $4,357,105.84. This trade represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust - 1 sold 9,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total value of $1,814,215.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,390 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,320,968.30. This represents a 35.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,294 shares of company stock valued at $2,546,632 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

UniFirst Stock Performance

UNF stock traded down $3.86 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $222.67. 45,402 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 325,389. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $192.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $187.84. UniFirst Co. has a fifty-two week low of $149.58 and a fifty-two week high of $243.70. The stock has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.66 and a beta of 0.87.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.09. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 5.99%. The firm had revenue of $604.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that UniFirst Co. will post 7.68 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a boost from UniFirst's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. UniFirst's dividend payout ratio is 17.90%.

UniFirst Company 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.