Bessemer Group Inc. Acquires 334 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 22.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,824 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 3.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,936 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in UniFirst by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 740 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 8,140 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,393,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 790 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,924 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total transaction of $274,024.05. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,361,682.25. This represents a 16.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on UniFirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $152.00 price objective (down previously from $180.00) on shares of UniFirst in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on UniFirst from $218.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UniFirst has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $180.00.

UniFirst Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE UNF opened at $174.02 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $196.69. UniFirst Co. has a 1-year low of $149.58 and a 1-year high of $243.70.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 2nd. The textile maker reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $602.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $602.81 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. Analysts forecast that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the textile maker to purchase up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. UniFirst’s payout ratio is currently 17.41%.

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.