UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Shares Purchased by Stifel Financial Corp

Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,711 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned 0.19% of UniFirst worth $6,895,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in UniFirst by 19.0% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,630 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in UniFirst by 43.9% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 79,625 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $13,658,000 after purchasing an additional 24,305 shares during the period. Oak Family Advisors LLC raised its position in UniFirst by 3.3% in the second quarter. Oak Family Advisors LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in UniFirst by 1.3% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 7,600 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,304,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Pullen Investment Management LLC raised its position in UniFirst by 2.9% in the second quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on UNF shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com cut UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UniFirst has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $186.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total value of $113,337.96. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,086,075. The trade was a 9.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.04, for a total transaction of $619,079.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,357,105.84. This trade represents a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,294 shares of company stock valued at $2,546,632 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst Stock Performance

UniFirst stock opened at $190.10 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $193.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $183.27. The company has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47 and a beta of 0.84. UniFirst Co. has a fifty-two week low of $149.58 and a fifty-two week high of $208.20.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. This is an increase from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. UniFirst’s payout ratio is currently 18.02%.

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.