Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 12,679 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 641,816 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 12,679 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $109,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in UniFirst by 464.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,220 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $8,188,000 after purchasing an additional 33,919 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in UniFirst by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 11,519 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of UniFirst during the fourth quarter worth about $255,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of UniFirst by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 365,047 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $62,456,000 after acquiring an additional 32,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of UniFirst by 164.2% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 8,387 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,666,000 after acquiring an additional 5,213 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

UniFirst Stock Performance

Shares of UNF stock opened at $210.52 on Thursday. UniFirst Co. has a 52-week low of $149.58 and a 52-week high of $243.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.37. The company has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.92 and a beta of 0.89.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.09. UniFirst had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The business had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 17.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on UNF shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of 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 at UniFirst

In other UniFirst news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total value of $274,024.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at $1,361,682.25. The trade was a 16.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

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.