Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 4,427 Shares of Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its stake in shares of Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 123,273 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 4,427 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.66% of Unifirst worth $21,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Unifirst by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,231 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Unifirst by 59.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Unifirst by 1.1% in the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 7,613 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,325,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Unifirst by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Unifirst in a research report on Monday. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $175.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $197.00 target price on shares of Unifirst in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Barclays set a $152.00 price objective on shares of Unifirst and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Unifirst from $196.00 to $194.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 30th. Two investment 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Unifirst presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $179.50.

Unifirst Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Unifirst stock opened at $178.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.90 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $192.60. Unifirst Corporation has a 12-month low of $156.34 and a 12-month high of $243.70.

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 2nd. The textile maker reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $610.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $614.50 million. Unifirst had a net margin of 6.18% and a return on equity of 7.35%. The business's revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Unifirst Corporation will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unifirst announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the textile maker to reacquire up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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