UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Releases FY24 Earnings Guidance

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $7.17-7.49 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.47. The company issued revenue guidance of $2.415-2.425 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $2.42 billion. UniFirst also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 7.170-7.490 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of UniFirst from $186.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on UniFirst from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised UniFirst from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $185.00 to $199.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UniFirst has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $186.00.

UniFirst Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNF opened at $171.53 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $160.84 and a 200-day moving average of $167.20. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 0.85. UniFirst has a fifty-two week low of $149.58 and a fifty-two week high of $187.22.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The textile maker reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $590.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $587.56 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 5.44%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UniFirst will post 7.44 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. UniFirst’s payout ratio is currently 19.27%.

Insider Activity at UniFirst

In other UniFirst news, major shareholder Cecelia Levenstein sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.73, for a total value of $1,746,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 87,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,898,081.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other UniFirst news, major shareholder Cecelia Levenstein sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.73, for a total value of $1,746,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 87,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,898,081.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Michael A. Croatti sold 1,800 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total transaction of $304,200.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $971,243. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 28,033 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,882. Company insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

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.