UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Shares Sold by New South Capital Management Inc.

New South Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,619 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 3,619 shares during the quarter. New South Capital Management Inc. owned 0.26% of UniFirst worth $8,318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 654,495 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $130,015,000 after buying an additional 32,447 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 365,047 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $62,456,000 after buying an additional 32,860 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 349,298 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $69,401,000 after buying an additional 4,136 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 3.3% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 144,917 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $28,788,000 after buying an additional 24,082 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst Price Performance

Shares of UNF opened at $210.52 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $209.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $197.37. UniFirst Co. has a 12-month low of $149.58 and a 12-month high of $243.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of 26.92 and a beta of 0.89.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last posted 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 company had revenue of $604.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $606.60 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 6.00%. The firm’s quarterly 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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. 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 currently 17.90%.

Insider Activity at UniFirst

In related news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total transaction of $274,024.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at $1,361,682.25. The trade was a 16.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on UNF shares. StockNews.com cut UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th.

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.