Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 407 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans decreased its position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,055 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 407 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.06% of UniFirst worth $2,062,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of UNF. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 464.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,220 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $8,188,000 after acquiring an additional 33,919 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in UniFirst by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 11,519 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in UniFirst in the fourth quarter worth $255,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in UniFirst by 9.9% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in UniFirst by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,472 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UNF. StockNews.com lowered UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on UniFirst from $235.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday.

UniFirst Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNF opened at $173.77 on Friday. UniFirst Co. has a 1 year low of $149.58 and a 1 year high of $243.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $210.10 and its 200 day moving average is $198.59. The company has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22 and a beta of 0.89.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced 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 company had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. UniFirst’s payout ratio is currently 17.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UniFirst news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total value of $274,024.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,361,682.25. This represents a 16.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.