UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.84 EPS

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The textile maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.84), FiscalAI reports. UniFirst had a net margin of 5.49% and a return on equity of 6.49%. The firm had revenue of $634.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $627.66 million.

UniFirst Stock Performance

NYSE:UNF opened at $264.83 on Wednesday. UniFirst has a one year low of $147.66 and a one year high of $283.77. The firm has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.89 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $262.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $239.51.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.365 dividend. This represents a $1.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UniFirst

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,153 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in UniFirst during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $92,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in UniFirst in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,891,000. SummitTX Capital L.P. acquired a new position in UniFirst in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in UniFirst in the 4th quarter worth approximately $135,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on UNF. Weiss Ratings upgraded UniFirst from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on UniFirst from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on UniFirst from $206.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $228.25.

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).