Unifirst (NYSE:UNF) Stock Price Down 5.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Unifirst's stock price fell by 5.5% after Barclays downgraded its price target from $152.00 to $145.00, maintaining an underweight rating.
• The company recently reported earnings of $2.28 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, despite a 4.0% decline in quarterly revenue compared to the previous year.
• Unifirst announced a quarterly dividend of $0.35, equating to an annualized dividend yield of 0.9%, with a payout ratio of 17.20%.

Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) shares traded down 5.5% on Thursday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $152.00 to $145.00. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Unifirst traded as low as $157.17 and last traded at $155.96. 103,386 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 20% from the average session volume of 128,916 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.98.

UNF has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Unifirst in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $175.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $197.00 target price on shares of Unifirst in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Unifirst in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Unifirst from $194.00 to $190.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $174.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Unifirst by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 162,751 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $28,319,000 after acquiring an additional 8,253 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in Unifirst by 150.5% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,855 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,019,000 after acquiring an additional 3,518 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings 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 during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Unifirst by 7.3% during the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 8,923 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,678,000 after buying an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Unifirst in the first quarter valued at approximately $8,081,000. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Unifirst Price Performance

The firm's 50-day moving average is $170.61 and its 200 day moving average is $176.16. The stock has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07 and a beta of 0.86.

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.13. Unifirst had a net margin of 6.18% and a return on equity of 7.35%. The business had revenue of $614.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $607.02 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.39 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Unifirst has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.580-6.980 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Unifirst Corporation will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Unifirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Unifirst's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.20%.

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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