Cwm LLC Trims Holdings in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Cwm LLC lessened its stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,829 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 467 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $1,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in UniFirst by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 195,832 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $31,923,000 after acquiring an additional 8,734 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in UniFirst by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 106,946 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $17,433,000 after acquiring an additional 3,023 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al grew its stake in UniFirst by 62.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 36,782 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $5,996,000 after acquiring an additional 14,087 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in UniFirst by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 424,650 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $69,222,000 after acquiring an additional 20,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC grew its stake in UniFirst by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 848,299 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $155,162,000 after acquiring an additional 4,078 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on UNF shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of UniFirst from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of UniFirst from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price target on shares of UniFirst in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP William Masters Ross sold 2,282 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.27, for a total transaction of $399,966.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,034 shares in the company, valued at $707,039.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst Price Performance

UniFirst stock opened at $164.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.88 and a beta of 0.82. UniFirst Co. has a 12-month low of $150.50 and a 12-month high of $187.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $166.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.79.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 27th. The textile maker reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.19). UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.19% and a net margin of 4.92%. The company had revenue of $590.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $587.56 million. As a group, analysts forecast that UniFirst Co. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 21.60%.

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.