KBC Group NV Has $127,000 Stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 74.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 740 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of UniFirst during the 3rd quarter valued at $10,270,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 12.4% during the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 332,187 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $65,989,000 after acquiring an additional 36,651 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 464.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,220 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $8,188,000 after purchasing an additional 33,919 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of UniFirst by 5.2% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 654,495 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $130,015,000 after buying an additional 32,447 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 173.9% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 47,968 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $9,529,000 after buying an additional 30,458 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at UniFirst

In related news, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total value of $1,814,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 17,390 shares in the company, valued at $3,320,968.30. This trade represents a 35.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total value of $113,337.96. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,086,075. The trade was a 9.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,294 shares of company stock worth $2,546,632 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on UNF. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $197.50.

UniFirst Price Performance

UNF opened at $219.14 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.10. UniFirst Co. has a 1 year low of $149.58 and a 1 year high of $243.70. The company has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a PE ratio of 28.02 and a beta of 0.89.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that UniFirst Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.90%.

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.