Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 12,679 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 641,816 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 12,679 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 3.46% of UniFirst worth $109,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC increased its stake in UniFirst by 464.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,220 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $8,188,000 after acquiring an additional 33,919 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 11,519 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of UniFirst in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $255,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $62,456,000 after buying an additional 32,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of UniFirst by 164.2% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 8,387 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,666,000 after buying an additional 5,213 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at UniFirst

In related news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of UniFirst 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 in the company, valued at $1,361,682.25. This trade represents a 16.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on UNF. StockNews.com cut UniFirst from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th.

UniFirst Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE UNF traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $209.23. 86,079 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 138,256. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $211.93 and a 200-day moving average of $197.81. UniFirst Co. has a one year low of $149.58 and a one year high of $243.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of 26.76 and a beta of 0.89.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.09. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 6.00%. The company had revenue of $604.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $606.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. UniFirst's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.90%.

About UniFirst

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.