Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the six brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $181.00.

UNF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Unifirst in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Unifirst from $182.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $198.00 price objective on Unifirst in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Unifirst from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Unifirst from $152.00 to $145.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd.

Institutional Trading of Unifirst

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in UNF. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Unifirst by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 29,500 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $5,691,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Xponance LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unifirst in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Unifirst during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its holdings in Unifirst by 164.2% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 367,786 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $70,946,000 after buying an additional 228,586 shares during the period. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Unifirst in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Unifirst Stock Performance

Shares of UNF stock opened at $235.34 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $198.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of 31.13 and a beta of 0.73. Unifirst has a 52-week low of $147.66 and a 52-week high of $241.32.

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

Unifirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.365 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Unifirst’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.31%.

Unifirst Company Profile

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).