Tidal Investments LLC Acquires New Stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,583 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its position in UniFirst by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in UniFirst by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 740 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in UniFirst by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,231 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in UniFirst by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 8,140 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in UniFirst by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 790 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

UniFirst Stock Performance

UniFirst stock opened at $188.90 on Friday. UniFirst Co. has a one year low of $149.58 and a one year high of $243.70. The business has a fifty day moving average of $178.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.70. The company has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.16 and a beta of 0.87.

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

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.41%.

UniFirst declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 8th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the textile maker to reacquire up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.