Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) has been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the six brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $181.00.

UNF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Unifirst from $152.00 to $145.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. UBS Group increased their target price on Unifirst from $182.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $198.00 price target on Unifirst in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Unifirst in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Unifirst from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Unifirst

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Engine Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Unifirst during the second quarter worth about $11,688,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Unifirst by 118.1% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,830 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $2,038,000 after acquiring an additional 5,864 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Unifirst during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,947,000. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Unifirst by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 793,765 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $149,402,000 after purchasing an additional 4,339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Unifirst by 1,492.4% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 49,571 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $9,330,000 after purchasing an additional 46,458 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unifirst Price Performance

UNF opened at $203.16 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $176.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.29. Unifirst has a 12 month low of $147.66 and a 12 month high of $232.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.87 and a beta of 0.72.

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 7th. The textile maker reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.16). Unifirst had a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 6.68%. The company had revenue of $621.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $615.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Unifirst has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.580-6.980 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Unifirst will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Unifirst Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.365 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This is an increase from Unifirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Unifirst’s dividend payout ratio is 19.31%.

About Unifirst

UniFirst Corporation (NYSE: UNF) is a leading provider of customized uniform rental and facility service programs in North America and Europe. The company specializes in the rental, laundering and maintenance of workwear, corporate apparel and protective garments for a broad range of industries, including manufacturing, automotive, hospitality, healthcare and food processing. UniFirst also offers a suite of facility service products such as entrance mats, restroom supplies, wipers, mops and hygienic services designed to help customers maintain clean and safe environments.

In addition to its core uniform rental business, UniFirst has expanded its product portfolio to include safety and first-responder gear, flame-resistant clothing, high-visibility apparel and personal protective equipment (PPE).