Bank of Montreal Can Purchases 131 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,780 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $305,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Polymer Capital Management US LLC bought a new position in shares of UniFirst in the 4th quarter valued at about $217,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of UniFirst by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 154,498 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $26,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in UniFirst by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 114,121 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $19,525,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541 shares during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP grew its holdings in UniFirst by 200.5% in the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 9,462 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,619,000 after buying an additional 6,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bryce Point Capital LLC bought a new position in UniFirst during the fourth quarter worth about $1,529,000. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on UNF shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of UniFirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $218.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $152.00 price target (down previously from $180.00) on shares of UniFirst in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $180.00.

UniFirst Price Performance

Shares of UNF stock opened at $172.37 on Thursday. UniFirst Co. has a one year low of $149.58 and a one year high of $243.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $190.26 and a 200-day moving average of $195.82. The company has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.04 and a beta of 0.88.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 2nd. The textile maker reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.03). UniFirst had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The company had revenue of $602.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $602.81 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.41%.

UniFirst declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 8th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the textile maker to repurchase up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at UniFirst

In other UniFirst news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the firm’s 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 in the company, valued at $1,361,682.25. This trade represents a 16.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

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.