Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,734 shares of the textile maker's stock after acquiring an additional 1,927 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.40% of Unifirst worth $13,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in UNF. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Unifirst by 187.2% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 359 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Unifirst by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 237,308 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $40,601,000 after acquiring an additional 7,559 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Unifirst during the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,576,000. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Unifirst by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,472 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,278,000 after buying an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Unifirst by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,291 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research analysts have commented on UNF shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Unifirst from $196.00 to $194.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $197.00 price objective on Unifirst in a report on Monday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Unifirst in a report on Monday. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $175.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays set a $152.00 price objective on Unifirst and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $179.50.
Read Our Latest Analysis on UNF
Unifirst Stock Up 2.2%
Shares of UNF traded up $3.75 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $177.51. 138,526 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 109,878. The company has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81 and a beta of 0.86. Unifirst Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $156.34 and a fifty-two week high of $243.70. The firm's fifty day moving average is $183.79 and its 200 day moving average is $192.65.
Unifirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 2nd. The textile maker reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $610.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $614.50 million. Unifirst had a return on equity of 7.35% and a net margin of 6.18%. Unifirst's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Unifirst Corporation will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.
Unifirst announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the textile maker to repurchase up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.
Unifirst Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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