12,000 Shares in Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) Acquired by ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC

ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new stake in Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 12,000 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,088,000. Unifirst comprises approximately 2.8% of ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC owned about 0.06% of Unifirst as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in UNF. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Unifirst by 59.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Unifirst by 1,105.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 229 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Unifirst by 88.7% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 266 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Unifirst by 252.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 345 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Unifirst by 187.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 359 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on UNF. UBS Group raised their target price on Unifirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird decreased 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. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $152.00 target price (down from $180.00) on shares of Unifirst in a report on Friday, April 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Unifirst presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $180.00.

Unifirst Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:UNF traded down $2.19 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $183.10. 113,534 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 106,323. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $182.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.77. Unifirst Corporation has a 52 week low of $150.83 and a 52 week high of $243.70. The company has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.77 and a beta of 0.87.

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 2nd. The textile maker reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $602.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $602.81 million. Unifirst had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 6.13%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Unifirst Corporation will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unifirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Unifirst's payout ratio is presently 17.41%.

Unifirst announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 8th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the textile maker to reacquire up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors 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.