Pullen Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF)

Pullen Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 58.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,357 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,702 shares during the period. Pullen Investment Management LLC's holdings in Unifirst were worth $1,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Unifirst by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,708,242 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $292,263,000 after purchasing an additional 6,393 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Unifirst by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 763,689 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $130,660,000 after buying an additional 15,517 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Unifirst by 5.5% in the 4th 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. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Unifirst by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 263,322 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $45,052,000 after buying an additional 12,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Unifirst by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 237,308 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $40,601,000 after buying an additional 7,559 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Unifirst Stock Performance

Unifirst stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $185.30. 121,511 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 106,294. The company has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of 23.05 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $182.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $193.77. Unifirst Corporation has a 12 month low of $150.83 and a 12 month high of $243.70.

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 2nd. The textile maker reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.03). Unifirst had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 6.13%. The business had revenue of $602.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $602.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. Unifirst's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Unifirst Corporation will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Unifirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Unifirst's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.41%.

Unifirst declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the textile maker to repurchase up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on UNF shares. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $152.00 target price (down from $180.00) on shares of Unifirst in a research note on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Unifirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Unifirst has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.