Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 3,500 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,826 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 3,500 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $14,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of UniFirst by 22.2% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 2,862 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in UniFirst during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $326,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in UniFirst by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 622,048 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $106,700,000 after purchasing an additional 51,088 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in UniFirst by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 4,231 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $726,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of UniFirst during the second quarter valued at approximately $348,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $3,320,968.30. This represents a 35.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.04, for a total value of $619,079.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,357,105.84. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,294 shares of company stock valued at $2,546,632 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on UNF. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of UniFirst from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $186.25.

UniFirst Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of UNF stock opened at $172.79 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s fifty day moving average is $191.14 and its 200 day moving average is $184.79. UniFirst Co. has a twelve month low of $149.58 and a twelve month high of $208.20.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a boost from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.02%.

UniFirst 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.