Tweedy Browne Co LLC Buys New Position in UniFirst Corporation $UNF

Key Points

• Tweedy Browne bought 102,059 shares of UniFirst in Q4 (~$19.7M), equal to about 0.56% of UniFirst and roughly 1.6% of Tweedy Browne's holdings, making it their 16th largest position.
• Analysts' consensus is a Reduce rating with an average price target of $228.25, although UBS and Barclays recently raised targets to $260 and $280 while keeping neutral/equal-weight views.
• UniFirst missed EPS expectations ($1.13 vs. $1.21) but beat revenue estimates ($622.5M vs. $614.9M), declared a $0.365 quarterly dividend (annual $1.46, yield 0.6%), and trades near $249.85 with a $4.52B market cap.

Tweedy Browne Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 102,059 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $19,687,000. UniFirst makes up approximately 1.6% of Tweedy Browne Co LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Tweedy Browne Co LLC owned approximately 0.56% of UniFirst as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNF. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in UniFirst by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 13,590 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $2,622,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412 shares in the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. acquired a new position in UniFirst during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,923,000. Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in UniFirst by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 31,785 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $6,131,000 after purchasing an additional 11,278 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in UniFirst during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $260,000. Finally, Comerica Bank increased its stake in UniFirst by 66.7% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 31,163 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $6,011,000 after purchasing an additional 12,465 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on UNF. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of UniFirst from $206.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $198.00 price objective on UniFirst in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on UniFirst from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of UniFirst in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UniFirst currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $228.25.

UniFirst Stock Down 0.9%

UniFirst stock opened at $249.85 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.85 and a beta of 0.63. UniFirst Corporation has a 52 week low of $147.66 and a 52 week high of $283.77. The business's 50-day moving average price is $255.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $210.93.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The textile maker reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.21 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $622.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $614.91 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.49% and a net margin of 5.49%.The firm's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that UniFirst Corporation will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.365 per share. This represents a $1.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. UniFirst's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,464 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.54, for a total transaction of $347,758.56. Following the sale, the vice president owned 6,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,534,745.94. This trade represents a 18.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

About UniFirst

UniFirst Corporation NYSE: UNF is a leading provider of customized uniform rental and facility service programs in North America and Europe. The company specializes in the rental, laundering and maintenance of workwear, corporate apparel and protective garments for a broad range of industries, including manufacturing, automotive, hospitality, healthcare and food processing. UniFirst also offers a suite of facility service products such as entrance mats, restroom supplies, wipers, mops and hygienic services designed to help customers maintain clean and safe environments.

In addition to its core uniform rental business, UniFirst has expanded its product portfolio to include safety and first-responder gear, flame-resistant clothing, high-visibility apparel and personal protective equipment (PPE).

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding UNF? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.