UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Holdings Trimmed by Jane Street Group LLC

Jane Street Group LLC cut its stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 79.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,852 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 19,126 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC's holdings in UniFirst were worth $830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of UniFirst by 464.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,220 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $8,188,000 after acquiring an additional 33,919 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in UniFirst in the fourth quarter worth $255,000. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in UniFirst by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,337 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in UniFirst by 1,373.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 280 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 74.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 740 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $152.00 target price (down from $180.00) on shares of UniFirst in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on UniFirst from $218.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UniFirst has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $180.00.

UniFirst Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE UNF traded down $0.98 on Thursday, hitting $187.96. The stock had a trading volume of 8,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 105,414. The company's 50-day moving average is $177.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.92. UniFirst Co. has a one year low of $149.58 and a one year high of $243.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.02 and a beta of 0.87.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last posted 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). UniFirst had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The business had revenue of $602.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $602.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. UniFirst's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.41%.

UniFirst announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 8th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the textile maker to buy up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are 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.