UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Shares Bought by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 189,235 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,022 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $32,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC increased its stake in UniFirst by 464.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,220 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $8,188,000 after purchasing an additional 33,919 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 11,519 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,974,000 after buying an additional 2,281 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of UniFirst in the fourth quarter worth approximately $255,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $62,456,000 after acquiring an additional 32,860 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of UniFirst by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,472 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UniFirst Price Performance

NYSE UNF opened at $173.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $210.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $198.59. UniFirst Co. has a 52-week low of $149.58 and a 52-week high of $243.70.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 17.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UniFirst news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total value of $274,024.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $235.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th.

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.