UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Shares Sold by Avior Wealth Management LLC

Avior Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,388 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 336 shares during the quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in UniFirst by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 654,495 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $130,015,000 after purchasing an additional 32,447 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of UniFirst by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 349,298 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $69,401,000 after acquiring an additional 4,136 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in UniFirst by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 332,187 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $65,989,000 after acquiring an additional 36,651 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 3.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 229,749 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $45,640,000 after purchasing an additional 8,587 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in UniFirst by 19.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 144,917 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $28,788,000 after buying an additional 24,082 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at UniFirst

In other news, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total value of $1,814,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 17,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,320,968.30. This trade represents a 35.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total transaction of $113,337.96. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,086,075. The trade was a 9.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,294 shares of company stock worth $2,546,632 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNF has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $197.50.

UniFirst Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of UniFirst stock opened at $220.50 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $197.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.26. The firm has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a PE ratio of 28.20 and a beta of 0.87. UniFirst Co. has a 52 week low of $149.58 and a 52 week high of $243.70.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.09. UniFirst had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The business had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $606.60 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that UniFirst Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.90%.

UniFirst Company 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.