State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Sells 458 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lowered its stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,352 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 458 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $1,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,708,242 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $292,263,000 after purchasing an additional 6,393 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 763,689 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $130,660,000 after acquiring an additional 15,517 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,326 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $66,268,000 after acquiring an additional 20,056 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 worth $62,456,000 after acquiring an additional 32,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 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 worth $40,601,000 after acquiring an additional 7,559 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst Stock Performance

UNF opened at $180.18 on Friday. UniFirst Co. has a fifty-two week low of $149.58 and a fifty-two week high of $243.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $186.20 and its 200 day moving average is $195.44. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.04 and a beta of 0.88.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 2nd. The textile maker reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $602.20 million for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.41%.

UniFirst announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the textile maker to purchase up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on UNF shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of 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 cut shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of UniFirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $152.00 target price (down previously from $180.00) on shares of UniFirst in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UniFirst currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at UniFirst

In other UniFirst news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total value of $274,024.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,361,682.25. The trade was a 16.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

UniFirst 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.