Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC Invests $502,000 in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,936 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $502,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of UniFirst by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,708,242 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $292,263,000 after purchasing an additional 6,393 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 15,517 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 20,056 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 365,047 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $62,456,000 after acquiring an additional 32,860 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in UniFirst by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 263,322 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $45,052,000 after acquiring an additional 12,598 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on UNF shares. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $152.00 price objective (down from $180.00) on shares of UniFirst in a report on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of UniFirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on UniFirst from $218.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $180.00.

UniFirst Price Performance

NYSE UNF traded down $2.13 on Friday, hitting $182.53. 15,026 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 135,694. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34 and a beta of 0.87. UniFirst Co. has a 52-week low of $149.58 and a 52-week high of $243.70. The company's 50-day moving average price is $179.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $195.14.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 2nd. The textile maker reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $602.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $602.81 million. UniFirst had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. UniFirst's revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 8th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the textile maker to reacquire up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.35 per share. 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 0.77%. UniFirst's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.