UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,708,242 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 6,393 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.20% of UniFirst worth $292,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in UniFirst by 464.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,220 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $8,188,000 after acquiring an additional 33,919 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in UniFirst by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 11,519 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of UniFirst during the fourth quarter worth about $255,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 9.9% in the fourth 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. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,472 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling at UniFirst

In related news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total value 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 represents a 16.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

UniFirst Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNF traded up $10.79 on Wednesday, hitting $172.65. 195,704 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 100,841. UniFirst Co. has a 1-year low of $149.58 and a 1-year high of $243.70. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 22.08 and a beta of 0.88. The firm's 50-day moving average is $199.53 and its 200 day moving average is $197.34.

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

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. UniFirst's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.41%.

UniFirst declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 8th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the textile maker to purchase up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management 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.