Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $63.69 Million Position in Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 43.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 366,034 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 275,782 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 1.97% of Unifirst worth $63,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Unifirst by 5.7% during the fourth 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. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Unifirst by 17.4% during the fourth 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. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Unifirst by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 29,600 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $5,064,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in Unifirst by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,206 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in Unifirst during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $241,000. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on UNF shares. Robert W. Baird set a $197.00 target price on shares of Unifirst in a research report on Monday, June 30th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Unifirst from $196.00 to $194.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Unifirst in a report on Monday, July 14th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $175.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays set a $152.00 target price on shares of Unifirst and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $179.50.

Unifirst Trading Down 0.3%

UNF stock traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $173.77. 92,194 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 109,281. Unifirst Corporation has a 52-week low of $156.34 and a 52-week high of $243.70. The company has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35 and a beta of 0.86. The stock's fifty day moving average is $183.44 and its 200-day moving average is $192.93.

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 2nd. The textile maker reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $610.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $614.50 million. Unifirst had a net margin of 6.18% and a return on equity of 7.35%. The firm's revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Unifirst Corporation will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Unifirst declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.