UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Shares Purchased by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

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

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quarry LP grew 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 period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 60.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 367 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 291.6% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 466 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of UniFirst in the 3rd quarter worth $109,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $197.50.

UniFirst Price Performance

Shares of UNF opened at $226.52 on Tuesday. UniFirst Co. has a 12 month low of $149.58 and a 12 month high of $243.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $192.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.84. The stock has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a PE ratio of 29.15 and a beta of 0.87.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $604.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 5.99%. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.26 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that UniFirst Co. will post 7.68 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. This is a positive change from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 22,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,357,105.84. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total transaction of $1,814,215.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 17,390 shares in the company, valued at $3,320,968.30. This trade represents a 35.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,294 shares of company stock valued at $2,546,632 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

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.