Bryce Point Capital LLC Acquires New Position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Bryce Point Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 8,937 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,529,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in UniFirst during the fourth quarter worth $31,133,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of UniFirst in the 4th quarter worth about $24,576,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of UniFirst by 464.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,220 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $8,188,000 after buying an additional 33,919 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 365,047 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $62,456,000 after buying an additional 32,860 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of UniFirst by 173.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 47,968 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $9,529,000 after buying an additional 30,458 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on UniFirst from $235.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 25th.

UniFirst Stock Up 0.6 %

UNF stock opened at $175.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $208.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $198.63. UniFirst Co. has a fifty-two week low of $149.58 and a fifty-two week high of $243.70.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $604.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $606.60 million. UniFirst had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. UniFirst’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. UniFirst’s payout ratio is currently 17.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by 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.