Natixis Advisors LLC Acquires 6,352 Shares of Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC has increased its stake in Unifirst Corporation by 4.4%, acquiring an additional 6,352 shares, resulting in ownership of 149,762 shares valued at approximately $26 million.
• Unifirst's recent quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, with reported earnings per share of $2.13, surpassing the consensus estimate of $2.09, although revenue was slightly below projections at $610.78 million.
• The company has authorized a $100 million share buyback plan, indicating confidence in its stock valuation, and has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, yielding 0.8% annually.

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 149,762 shares of the textile maker's stock after buying an additional 6,352 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.81% of Unifirst worth $26,059,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vestcor Inc acquired a new stake in Unifirst in the first quarter valued at approximately $87,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Unifirst by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 11,269 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,961,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Unifirst by 4.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,323 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in Unifirst by 31.9% during the first quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 3,368 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $586,000 after buying an additional 815 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC bought a new position in Unifirst during the first quarter valued at about $247,000. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on UNF shares. Robert W. Baird set a $197.00 target price on Unifirst in a report on Monday, June 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Unifirst from $196.00 to $194.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 30th. Barclays set a $152.00 target price on shares of Unifirst and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Unifirst in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $175.00 target price for the company. 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $179.50.

Unifirst Price Performance

Shares of UNF stock traded up $2.97 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $172.95. 84,427 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 134,518. Unifirst Corporation has a 52 week low of $156.34 and a 52 week high of $243.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25 and a beta of 0.85. The stock's 50-day moving average is $180.86 and its 200-day moving average is $190.29.

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

Unifirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Unifirst's dividend payout ratio is 17.20%.

Unifirst declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 8th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the textile maker to reacquire up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.