Royce & Associates LP Purchases Shares of 18,430 UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Royce & Associates LP bought a new stake in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 18,430 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $3,661,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of UniFirst by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 17,912 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $3,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,634 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of UniFirst by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 25,211 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $4,372,000 after purchasing an additional 2,899 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,028 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in UniFirst by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,695,590 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $294,066,000 after purchasing an additional 4,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in UniFirst by 69.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 414 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UniFirst from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.25.

UniFirst Price Performance

UNF opened at $195.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.15 and a beta of 0.82. UniFirst Co. has a one year low of $149.58 and a one year high of $205.38. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $190.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $179.05.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is an increase from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. UniFirst’s payout ratio is currently 16.99%.

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.