Point72 Asset Management L.P. Takes $6.23 Million Position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 36,400 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $6,228,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 0.20% of UniFirst as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of UNF. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in UniFirst by 464.6% during the third 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 during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in UniFirst in the fourth quarter worth $255,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in UniFirst by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,793 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in UniFirst by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,799 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in UniFirst by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,337 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. 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 lifted their price target on UniFirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $152.00 price target (down from $180.00) on shares of UniFirst in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on UniFirst from $218.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two equities 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UniFirst presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $180.00.

UniFirst Stock Performance

UNF stock traded down $1.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $183.65. 52,559 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 105,437. The company has a 50-day moving average of $178.58 and a 200-day moving average of $195.12. UniFirst Co. has a 1 year low of $149.58 and a 1 year high of $243.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of 23.48 and a beta of 0.87.

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

UniFirst declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 8th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the textile maker to buy up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. UniFirst's payout ratio is 17.41%.

UniFirst Company 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.