Rhumbline Advisers Sells 1,131 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Rhumbline Advisers lowered its position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 2.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,459 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 1,131 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in UniFirst were worth $9,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of UniFirst by 78.1% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 171 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Pullen Investment Management LLC raised its position in UniFirst by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Oak Family Advisors LLC raised its position in UniFirst by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Oak Family Advisors LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in UniFirst by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 7,600 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,304,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in UniFirst by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,211 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on UniFirst from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. StockNews.com upgraded UniFirst from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on UniFirst from $185.00 to $199.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on UniFirst from $186.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UniFirst currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UniFirst news, Director Michael Iandoli sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.30, for a total transaction of $132,512.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,759.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Michael Iandoli sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.30, for a total transaction of $132,512.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,759.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Cecelia Levenstein sold 9,733 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.29, for a total value of $1,491,971.57. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,940,639.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,990 shares of company stock worth $2,065,585. Corporate insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst Price Performance

Shares of UniFirst stock opened at $186.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.22 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $183.80 and its 200-day moving average is $170.80. UniFirst Co. has a one year low of $149.58 and a one year high of $197.88.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The textile maker reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.31. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 5.44%. The business had revenue of $603.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $600.97 million. On average, equities analysts expect that UniFirst Co. will post 7.83 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. UniFirst’s payout ratio is presently 19.27%.

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.