Ameriprise Financial Inc. Has $7.10 Million Holdings in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lowered its position in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,523 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 1,502 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.22% of UniFirst worth $7,104,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in UniFirst by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,708,242 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $292,263,000 after buying an additional 6,393 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in UniFirst by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 763,689 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $130,660,000 after acquiring an additional 15,517 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in UniFirst by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,326 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $66,268,000 after acquiring an additional 20,056 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its position in UniFirst by 9.9% in 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, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in UniFirst by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 263,322 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $45,052,000 after acquiring an additional 12,598 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of UniFirst stock opened at $184.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $195.14. UniFirst Co. has a 12-month low of $149.58 and a 12-month high of $243.70.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 2nd. The textile maker reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.03). UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 6.00%. The firm had revenue of $602.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $602.81 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 17.41%.

UniFirst announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the textile maker to repurchase up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of UniFirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of UniFirst from $218.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $152.00 target price (down from $180.00) on shares of UniFirst in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UniFirst has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $180.00.

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.