Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Increases Stake in Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 598.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,417 shares of the textile maker's stock after buying an additional 8,925 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.06% of Unifirst worth $1,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unifirst by 59.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Unifirst by 1,105.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 229 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Unifirst by 252.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 345 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Unifirst by 187.2% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 359 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in Unifirst by 811.5% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 474 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on UNF. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $152.00 price objective (down previously from $180.00) on shares of Unifirst in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Unifirst from $218.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Unifirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $180.00.

Unifirst Stock Performance

Shares of Unifirst stock traded up $0.34 during trading on Friday, hitting $183.60. 285,108 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 106,308. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $182.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $193.41. Unifirst Corporation has a twelve month low of $152.65 and a twelve month high of $243.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84 and a beta of 0.87.

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 business 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Unifirst Corporation will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unifirst announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 8th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the textile maker to purchase up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Unifirst Announces Dividend

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

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.