Posted by admin on May 14th, 2022

StockNews.com upgraded shares of UniFirst (NYSE:UNF – Get Rating) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on UNF. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of UniFirst from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Saturday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of UniFirst from a neutral rating to an underweight rating in a research report on Friday, April 1st. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of UniFirst from a b rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Thursday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UniFirst presently has a consensus rating of Hold.

UniFirst stock traded up $1.66 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $161.40. The stock had a trading volume of 91,605 shares, compared to its average volume of 60,416. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.84 and a beta of 0.99. UniFirst has a 52 week low of $156.04 and a 52 week high of $242.79. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.55.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 30th. The textile maker reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.39). UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.36% and a net margin of 6.77%. The firm had revenue of $486.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $481.09 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.71 EPS. UniFirst’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that UniFirst will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 7th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.73%.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in UniFirst by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 166,490 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $30,681,000 after acquiring an additional 10,717 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in UniFirst by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 11,637 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $2,144,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in UniFirst by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 18,319 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $3,377,000 after acquiring an additional 606 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in UniFirst by 187.4% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 273 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in UniFirst by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,646,430 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $303,404,000 after acquiring an additional 23,741 shares during the period. 77.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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