Brokerages Set Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) Price Target at $181.00

Shares of Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $207.25.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on UNF shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Unifirst from $182.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Unifirst from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Barclays raised shares of Unifirst from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird set a $198.00 price objective on shares of Unifirst in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Unifirst in a report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.54, for a total value of $347,758.56. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 6,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,534,745.94. This trade represents a 18.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Unifirst by 3,281.8% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,232 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 2,166 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its position in Unifirst by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 865,014 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $166,861,000 after purchasing an additional 75,524 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in Unifirst by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,153 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Unifirst in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Unifirst in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,891,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Unifirst Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNF opened at $260.16 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $216.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41 and a beta of 0.69. Unifirst has a fifty-two week low of $147.66 and a fifty-two week high of $271.35.

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The textile maker reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.16). The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. Unifirst has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.580-6.980 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Unifirst will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Unifirst Dividend Announcement

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