D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Lowers Stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. trimmed its position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 69.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,209 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 7,329 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 33,919 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of UniFirst during the fourth quarter worth about $255,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 32,860 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,326 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $66,268,000 after buying an additional 20,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,472 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after buying an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UniFirst Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE UNF opened at $183.65 on Monday. UniFirst Co. has a one year low of $149.58 and a one year high of $243.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $178.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $195.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of 23.48 and a beta of 0.87.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 2nd. The textile maker reported $1.31 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $602.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 8th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the textile maker to repurchase up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

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 given 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 0.76%. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 17.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on UniFirst from $218.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. 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. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $152.00 price target (down from $180.00) on shares of UniFirst in a report on Friday, April 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UniFirst presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.00.

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.