Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) Receives Average Rating of "Reduce" from Analysts

Key Points

• Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) has received a consensus rating of "Reduce" from analysts, with two sell ratings and three hold recommendations.
• The average 12-month target price set by analysts for Unifirst is $179.50, while Barclays and JPMorgan have set their target prices at $152.00 and $175.00 respectively.
• Unifirst recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.8% with a payout ratio of 17.20%.

Shares of Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from the five research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and three have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $179.50.

UNF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays set a $152.00 target price on Unifirst and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Unifirst from $196.00 to $194.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Unifirst in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird set a $197.00 target price on shares of Unifirst in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Unifirst in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $175.00 price target on the stock.

Unifirst Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE UNF traded up $2.22 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $169.47. 105,143 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 120,781. Unifirst has a 52-week low of $156.34 and a 52-week high of $243.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $172.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.61. The company has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.82 and a beta of 0.86.

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 2nd. The textile maker reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.04. Unifirst had a net margin of 6.18% and a return on equity of 7.35%. The firm had revenue of $610.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $614.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. Unifirst's revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Unifirst will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Unifirst Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Unifirst's payout ratio is 17.20%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Unifirst by 5.3% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 162,751 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $28,319,000 after acquiring an additional 8,253 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in Unifirst by 150.5% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,855 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 3,518 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Unifirst by 27,715.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,498 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $6,873,000 after purchasing an additional 39,356 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Unifirst by 2.3% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 18,871 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $3,284,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Unifirst by 11.5% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,446 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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