UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Shares Bought by Summit Investment Advisors Inc.

Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,575 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $269,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new stake in UniFirst in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in UniFirst by 1,105.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 229 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in UniFirst by 252.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 345 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in UniFirst by 187.2% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 359 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 811.5% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 474 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UniFirst Stock Down 0.2 %

UniFirst stock opened at $171.47 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $191.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.15. UniFirst Co. has a 52 week low of $149.58 and a 52 week high of $243.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 21.93 and a beta of 0.88.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last issued 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 return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 6.00%. The business had revenue of $602.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $602.81 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. UniFirst’s payout ratio is currently 17.41%.

UniFirst announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 8th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the textile maker to repurchase up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on UniFirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on 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 target price (down previously from $180.00) on shares of UniFirst in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $180.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total transaction of $274,024.05. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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.