DAVENPORT & Co LLC Sells 296 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC lowered its stake in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,527 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 296 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $1,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in UniFirst by 464.6% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 11,519 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,974,000 after buying an additional 2,281 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of UniFirst during the 4th quarter worth about $255,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 5,213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in UniFirst by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,793 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on UNF. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $197.50.

UniFirst Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of UNF opened at $222.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 28.41 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $201.07 and its 200-day moving average is $193.67. UniFirst Co. has a 12 month low of $149.58 and a 12 month high of $243.70.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $604.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $606.60 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 6.00%. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.26 EPS. Equities research analysts predict 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 paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 17.90%.

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 dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total value of $1,814,215.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,320,968.30. This trade represents a 35.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total value of $113,337.96. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,625 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 13,294 shares of company stock valued at $2,546,632 in the last ninety days. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.