Copeland Capital Management LLC Sells 10,043 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Copeland Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 287,265 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 10,043 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC owned 1.54% of UniFirst worth $52,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY increased its stake in shares of UniFirst by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 920 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in UniFirst by 4.8% in the third quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,457 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 0.9% in the second quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 7,898 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,224,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in UniFirst by 2.3% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,269 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $533,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in UniFirst by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,308 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at UniFirst

In related news, EVP William Masters Ross sold 2,282 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.27, for a total transaction of $399,966.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $707,039.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.74% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on UNF. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of UniFirst in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com cut UniFirst from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on UniFirst from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on UniFirst from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UniFirst has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $177.75.

UniFirst Stock Performance

Shares of UniFirst stock traded up $1.36 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $173.43. 157,448 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 84,819. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $170.34 and a 200-day moving average of $170.12. The company has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a PE ratio of 28.38 and a beta of 0.82. UniFirst Co. has a 12 month low of $150.50 and a 12 month high of $187.22.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 3rd. The textile maker reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $593.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $589.64 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.19% and a net margin of 4.92%. UniFirst's revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.21 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that UniFirst Co. will post 7.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. UniFirst's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.60%.

About UniFirst

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.