UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Position Reduced by Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc.

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 271,851 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 1,574 shares during the quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. owned 1.46% of UniFirst worth $46,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UNF. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of UniFirst by 464.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,220 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $8,188,000 after buying an additional 33,919 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in UniFirst by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 11,519 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in UniFirst during the 4th quarter worth approximately $255,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in UniFirst by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 365,047 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $62,456,000 after acquiring an additional 32,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in UniFirst by 5.5% during 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. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on UNF. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on UniFirst from $218.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $152.00 price target (down previously from $180.00) on shares of UniFirst in a research report on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of UniFirst from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of UniFirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $180.00.

UniFirst Price Performance

UniFirst stock traded up $1.72 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $180.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 103,169. UniFirst Co. has a 52-week low of $149.58 and a 52-week high of $243.70. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $188.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.03 and a beta of 0.88.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $602.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $602.81 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 6.00%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. UniFirst's payout ratio is 17.41%.

UniFirst declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 8th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the textile maker to buy up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at UniFirst

In related news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total transaction of $274,024.05. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,361,682.25. This trade represents a 16.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

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.