Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 210 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 1,105.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 229 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $39,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. 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 worth $130,015,000 after buying an additional 32,447 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in UniFirst by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 349,298 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $69,401,000 after purchasing an additional 4,136 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in UniFirst by 3.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 229,749 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $45,640,000 after purchasing an additional 8,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in UniFirst by 19.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 144,917 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $28,788,000 after purchasing an additional 24,082 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst Stock Down 1.9 %

UNF stock opened at $209.29 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $207.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.49. UniFirst Co. has a 12 month low of $149.58 and a 12 month high of $243.70. The firm has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.76 and a beta of 0.89.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $604.91 million for 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 firm posted $2.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.90%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the business’s 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 owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $197.50.

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.