37,758 Shares in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Bought by T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 37,758 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $6,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.20% of UniFirst at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UNF. Barclays PLC increased its stake in UniFirst by 464.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,220 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $8,188,000 after purchasing an additional 33,919 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in UniFirst by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 8,535 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,460,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in UniFirst by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 11,519 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,974,000 after acquiring an additional 2,281 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of UniFirst during the fourth quarter worth approximately $255,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,793 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $478,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other UniFirst news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total transaction of $274,024.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,361,682.25. This trade represents a 16.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNF has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on UniFirst from $218.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $152.00 target price (down from $180.00) on shares of UniFirst in a report on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of UniFirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of UniFirst from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $180.00.

UniFirst Stock Performance

UNF stock traded up $1.71 during trading on Thursday, reaching $180.18. 73,007 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 103,781. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.04 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $195.50. UniFirst Co. has a 12 month low of $149.58 and a 12 month high of $243.70.

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

UniFirst declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 8th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the textile maker to repurchase up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. 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.