Blue Trust Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 1,373.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 280 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $48,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in UniFirst by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,337 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of UniFirst by 34.2% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,799 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of UniFirst by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,793 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of UniFirst during the 4th quarter valued at about $255,000. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in shares of UniFirst by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 11,519 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,974,000 after buying an additional 2,281 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the company 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 lowered UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $197.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $1,814,215.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,320,968.30. The trade was a 35.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,294 shares of company stock worth $2,546,632. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst Stock Down 1.9 %

NYSE:UNF opened at $219.14 on Monday. UniFirst Co. has a 52 week low of $149.58 and a 52 week high of $243.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a PE ratio of 28.02 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $201.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.19.

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

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 17.90%.

About UniFirst

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.