ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Boosts Stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 200.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,462 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 6,313 shares during the quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.05% of UniFirst worth $1,619,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,708,242 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $292,263,000 after purchasing an additional 6,393 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,326 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $66,268,000 after acquiring an additional 20,056 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 365,047 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $62,456,000 after purchasing an additional 32,860 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in UniFirst by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 349,298 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $69,401,000 after purchasing an additional 4,136 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in UniFirst by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 237,308 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $40,601,000 after buying an additional 7,559 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity

In other UniFirst news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,361,682.25. The trade was a 16.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

UniFirst Trading Up 1.4 %

UNF stock traded up $2.41 during trading on Monday, reaching $176.56. The stock had a trading volume of 33,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 101,969. The stock's 50 day moving average is $197.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.58 and a beta of 0.88. UniFirst Co. has a 52 week low of $149.58 and a 52 week high of $243.70.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 2nd. The textile maker reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.03). UniFirst had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The business had revenue of $602.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $602.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. UniFirst's payout ratio is presently 17.41%.

UniFirst announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 8th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the textile maker to buy up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.