UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Issues Earnings Results

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The textile maker reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.09, RTT News reports. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 5.99%. The business had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.26 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. UniFirst updated its FY 2025 guidance to 6.790-7.190 EPS.

UniFirst Price Performance

Shares of UNF stock opened at $215.15 on Friday. UniFirst has a one year low of $149.58 and a one year high of $243.70. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of 27.69 and a beta of 0.87.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This is a positive change from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 17.90%.

Insider Transactions at UniFirst

In other news, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total transaction of $1,814,215.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 17,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,320,968.30. This represents a 35.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,086,075. This represents a 9.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,294 shares of company stock worth $2,546,632. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on UNF. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UniFirst has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $197.50.

UniFirst Company 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.