UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Shares Bought by Oak Family Advisors LLC

Oak Family Advisors LLC raised its stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 3.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,915 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the quarter. Oak Family Advisors LLC’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 43.9% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 79,625 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $13,658,000 after acquiring an additional 24,305 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in UniFirst by 19.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,630 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its stake in UniFirst by 5.6% in the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 2,055 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in UniFirst by 292.3% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,174 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 2,365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in UniFirst by 5.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,330 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $2,139,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on UNF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on UniFirst from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on UniFirst from $185.00 to $199.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. StockNews.com upgraded UniFirst from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on UniFirst from $186.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.00.

Insider Transactions at UniFirst

In other news, major shareholder Cecelia Levenstein sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.73, for a total value of $1,746,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 87,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,898,081.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP William Masters Ross sold 225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.67, for a total value of $40,650.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $728,822.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Cecelia Levenstein sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.73, for a total value of $1,746,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 87,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,898,081.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,490 shares of company stock valued at $4,668,295 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:UNF traded down $0.52 on Thursday, hitting $184.65. 26,747 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 87,040. The stock has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 26.90 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $175.92 and a 200-day moving average of $169.02. UniFirst Co. has a fifty-two week low of $149.58 and a fifty-two week high of $197.88.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The textile maker reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $603.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $600.97 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 5.44%. As a group, analysts predict that UniFirst Co. will post 7.83 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 19.27%.

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.