Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 1,927 Shares of Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. 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 0.40% of Unifirst worth $13,004,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Unifirst by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,326 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $66,268,000 after buying an additional 20,056 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Unifirst by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,472 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,278,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Unifirst by 148.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 76,742 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $13,130,000 after buying an additional 45,850 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Unifirst in the fourth quarter worth $31,133,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Unifirst in the fourth quarter worth $514,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Unifirst Price Performance

Unifirst stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $174.50. 109,046 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 109,490. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $183.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $192.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.44 and a beta of 0.86. Unifirst Corporation has a 52-week low of $156.34 and a 52-week high of $243.70.

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 2nd. The textile maker reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $610.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $614.50 million. Unifirst had a net margin of 6.18% and a return on equity of 7.35%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.20 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Unifirst Corporation will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Unifirst declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 purchase up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $197.00 target price on shares of Unifirst in a research note on Monday, June 30th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Unifirst from $196.00 to $194.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Barclays set a $152.00 target price on shares of Unifirst and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th.

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.