Jane Street Group LLC Sells 19,126 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Jane Street Group LLC decreased its holdings in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 79.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,708,242 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $292,263,000 after purchasing an additional 6,393 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 763,689 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $130,660,000 after purchasing an additional 15,517 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 5.5% in 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 period. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in UniFirst by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 365,047 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $62,456,000 after buying an additional 32,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in UniFirst by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 263,322 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $45,052,000 after buying an additional 12,598 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company's stock.

UniFirst Stock Down 0.2%

UNF stock traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $188.47. 42,421 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 105,646. UniFirst Co. has a twelve month low of $149.58 and a twelve month high of $243.70. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $177.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10 and a beta of 0.87.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last announced 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). UniFirst had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The company had revenue of $602.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $602.81 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the textile maker to reacquire up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. UniFirst's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on UNF. UBS Group increased their price objective 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 dropped their price objective on UniFirst from $218.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $152.00 price objective (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 issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $180.00.

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.