Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 300 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 3.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,300 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $1,450,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNF. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UniFirst during the 3rd quarter worth $266,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of UniFirst in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $109,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of UniFirst by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 332,187 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $65,989,000 after buying an additional 36,651 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 66,924 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $13,294,000 after acquiring an additional 4,174 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of UniFirst by 194.6% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,930 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $781,000 after acquiring an additional 2,596 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com raised UniFirst from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $186.25.

UniFirst Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNF opened at $179.83 on Friday. UniFirst Co. has a one year low of $149.58 and a one year high of $200.07. The company has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.14 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $188.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.99.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.99%.

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.