Global Retirement Partners LLC Acquires 200 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 27.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 938 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $160,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 194.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,930 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 2,596 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UniFirst in the third quarter worth about $266,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 21,553 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $4,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of UniFirst by 164.2% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 8,387 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,666,000 after acquiring an additional 5,213 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at UniFirst

In related news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total transaction of $274,024.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,455 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on UNF shares. StockNews.com cut UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $197.50.

UniFirst Stock Down 1.9 %

UNF opened at $209.29 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $207.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.76 and a beta of 0.89. 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, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $604.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. UniFirst had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. UniFirst’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.