Everence Capital Management Inc. Trims Position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Everence Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 28.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,280 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 510 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 1.9% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 4,231 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of UniFirst in the 2nd quarter valued at about $348,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 25.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 173,315 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $29,729,000 after buying an additional 35,604 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in UniFirst by 17.6% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 144,090 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $24,716,000 after acquiring an additional 21,547 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in UniFirst by 3.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 737,003 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $126,418,000 after acquiring an additional 23,069 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at UniFirst

In other UniFirst news, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total transaction of $1,814,215.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 17,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,320,968.30. The trade was a 35.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total transaction of $113,337.96. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,086,075. The trade was a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,294 shares of company stock valued at $2,546,632. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on UNF shares. StockNews.com lowered UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UniFirst currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.25.

UniFirst Stock Performance

UniFirst stock opened at $215.15 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $190.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $186.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.69 and a beta of 0.87. UniFirst Co. has a 1 year low of $149.58 and a 1 year high of $243.70.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $606.60 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 5.99%. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that UniFirst Co. will post 7.68 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a positive change from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.02%.

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.