Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 143,639 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $24,576,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 33,919 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in UniFirst by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 11,519 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in UniFirst in the 4th quarter worth about $255,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in UniFirst by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 365,047 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $62,456,000 after purchasing an additional 32,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in UniFirst by 74.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 740 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,361,682.25. This represents a 16.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on UNF. StockNews.com cut shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th.

UniFirst Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNF opened at $204.09 on Friday. UniFirst Co. has a fifty-two week low of $149.58 and a fifty-two week high of $243.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.42. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.10 and a beta of 0.89.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.09. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 6.00%. The business had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $606.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.26 EPS. UniFirst’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.90%.

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.