UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Shares Bought by Snowden Capital Advisors LLC

Snowden Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 25.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,511 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 705 shares during the period. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $602,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in UniFirst by 464.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,220 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $8,188,000 after purchasing an additional 33,919 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in UniFirst during the 4th quarter worth approximately $255,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 32,860 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 20,056 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in UniFirst by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,472 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst Price Performance

UNF opened at $187.41 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.97 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $179.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $195.18. UniFirst Co. has a 1-year low of $149.58 and a 1-year high of $243.70.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 2nd. The textile maker reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.03). UniFirst had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The company had revenue of $602.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $602.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. UniFirst’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst announced that its board 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 reacquire up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. UniFirst’s payout ratio is currently 17.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on UNF. UBS Group upped their price target on UniFirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $152.00 price target (down previously from $180.00) on shares of UniFirst in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on UniFirst from $218.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UniFirst has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $180.00.

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.