XTX Topco Ltd Acquires Shares of 1,451 UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,451 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC raised its holdings 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 period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in shares of UniFirst by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 11,519 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,974,000 after acquiring an additional 2,281 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in UniFirst during the fourth quarter worth $255,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 365,047 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $62,456,000 after buying an additional 32,860 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in UniFirst by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,326 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $66,268,000 after acquiring an additional 20,056 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on UNF. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $152.00 target price (down from $180.00) on shares of UniFirst in a research note on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on UniFirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. 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 research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered UniFirst from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $180.00.

Insider Transactions at UniFirst

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

UniFirst Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of UNF stock traded down $0.60 on Friday, reaching $179.22. 7,466 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 103,622. The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94 and a beta of 0.88. The business's 50 day moving average price is $186.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.44. UniFirst Co. has a twelve month low of $149.58 and a twelve month high of $243.70.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.03). UniFirst had a net margin of 6.00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The business had revenue of $602.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $602.81 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current 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 announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are 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.