Trexquant Investment LP Buys New Stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,207 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new stake in shares of UniFirst in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in UniFirst by 1,105.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 229 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of UniFirst by 252.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 345 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of UniFirst by 187.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 359 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 291.6% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 466 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at UniFirst

In other news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total transaction of $274,024.05. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

UniFirst Price Performance

Shares of UNF opened at $174.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.37 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $196.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $197.00. UniFirst Co. has a 12-month low of $149.58 and a 12-month high of $243.70.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). UniFirst had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The business had revenue of $602.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $602.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. UniFirst’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 8th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the textile maker to purchase up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. UniFirst’s payout ratio is currently 17.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on UNF. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $218.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays reissued 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. StockNews.com lowered UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of UniFirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.00.

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.