UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Stock Holdings Lifted by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 50,121 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 6,136 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in UniFirst were worth $8,575,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new stake in shares of UniFirst in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of UniFirst by 1,105.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 229 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of UniFirst by 252.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 345 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of UniFirst by 187.2% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 359 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of UniFirst by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 367 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on UNF shares. StockNews.com cut UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 trade represents a 16.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

UniFirst Price Performance

NYSE UNF opened at $196.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a PE ratio of 25.15 and a beta of 0.89. UniFirst Co. has a one year low of $149.58 and a one year high of $243.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $215.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $198.91.

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

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.90%.

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.