UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Shares Sold by Martin & Co. Inc. TN

Martin & Co. Inc. TN lessened its stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,340 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 434 shares during the quarter. Martin & Co. Inc. TN’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $2,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 33,919 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 24.7% in 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 during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in UniFirst during the fourth quarter worth $255,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in UniFirst by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 365,047 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $62,456,000 after acquiring an additional 32,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in UniFirst by 164.2% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 8,387 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,666,000 after acquiring an additional 5,213 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on UNF shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $197.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total transaction of $1,814,215.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,320,968.30. The trade was a 35.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total value of $113,337.96. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,625 shares in the company, valued at $1,086,075. This trade represents a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,294 shares of company stock valued at $2,546,632 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE:UNF opened at $213.50 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of 27.30 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $203.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.06. UniFirst Co. has a 12-month low of $149.58 and a 12-month high of $243.70.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $606.60 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 6.00%. UniFirst’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that UniFirst Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.