D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Cuts Stock Position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. trimmed its holdings in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 69.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,209 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 7,329 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in UniFirst were worth $549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of UNF. Barclays PLC increased its position in UniFirst by 464.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,220 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $8,188,000 after acquiring an additional 33,919 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of UniFirst during the 4th quarter valued at about $255,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UniFirst by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 365,047 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $62,456,000 after purchasing an additional 32,860 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of UniFirst by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,326 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $66,268,000 after purchasing an additional 20,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,472 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNF has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of UniFirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on UniFirst from $218.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $152.00 price target (down previously from $180.00) on shares of UniFirst in a report on Friday, April 4th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, UniFirst has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $180.00.

UniFirst Stock Performance

Shares of UNF traded up $1.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $189.86. 11,635 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 105,274. The company has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 24.28 and a beta of 0.87. UniFirst Co. has a 52-week low of $149.58 and a 52-week high of $243.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $177.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.81.

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

UniFirst announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the textile maker to repurchase up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. UniFirst's payout ratio is presently 17.41%.

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.