Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 15,517 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 763,689 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 15,517 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 4.11% of UniFirst worth $130,660,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its position in UniFirst by 464.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,220 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $8,188,000 after buying an additional 33,919 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in UniFirst by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 8,535 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,460,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in UniFirst by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 11,519 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,974,000 after buying an additional 2,281 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in UniFirst during the 4th quarter valued at about $255,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in UniFirst by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,793 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of UniFirst from $218.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded UniFirst from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $152.00 target price (down from $180.00) on shares of UniFirst in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $180.00.

UniFirst Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:UNF traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $177.87. The stock had a trading volume of 18,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 103,590. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $195.50. UniFirst Co. has a twelve month low of $149.58 and a twelve month high of $243.70. The firm has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.79 and a beta of 0.88.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $602.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $602.81 million. UniFirst had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. UniFirst's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. UniFirst's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.41%.

UniFirst announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the textile maker to purchase up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other UniFirst news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total transaction of $274,024.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.