UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.37

Key Points

• UniFirst declared a quarterly dividend of $0.365 per share, payable June 26 to shareholders of record on June 5, implying an annualized payout of $1.46 and a yield of about 0.6%.
• The dividend appears well covered — UniFirst has raised its payout for seven consecutive years and carries a low payout ratio (~16.9%); analysts expect roughly $8.68 EPS next year, supporting an expected future payout ratio near 16.8%, despite a recent quarterly EPS miss of $1.13 versus $1.21 on $622.5M revenue.

UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 14th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of 0.365 per share by the textile maker on Friday, June 26th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th.

UniFirst has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 7 consecutive years. UniFirst has a payout ratio of 16.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect UniFirst to earn $8.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.46 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.8%.

UniFirst Stock Up 0.3%

UNF opened at $260.46 on Wednesday. UniFirst has a twelve month low of $147.66 and a twelve month high of $283.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $247.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $202.86. The company has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 35.29 and a beta of 0.66.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The textile maker reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.21 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $622.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $614.91 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.49% and a net margin of 5.49%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UniFirst will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

About UniFirst

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).

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