William Blair Brokers Raise Earnings Estimates for Unifirst

Unifirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) - William Blair lifted their FY2025 EPS estimates for shares of Unifirst in a research note issued on Wednesday, July 2nd. William Blair analyst T. Mulrooney now forecasts that the textile maker will post earnings of $8.01 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $7.94. The consensus estimate for Unifirst's current full-year earnings is $7.71 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Unifirst's Q4 2025 earnings at $2.03 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.48 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $2.29 EPS.

Several other research firms have also commented on UNF. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Unifirst from $196.00 to $194.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $197.00 price objective on Unifirst in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Barclays set a $152.00 price objective on Unifirst and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th.

Unifirst Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNF traded up $3.94 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $175.01. The company had a trading volume of 112,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 107,659. The company has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.50 and a beta of 0.86. Unifirst has a 12-month low of $156.34 and a 12-month high of $243.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $184.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $192.81.

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

Unifirst announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 8th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the textile maker to purchase up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Unifirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Unifirst's payout ratio is 17.20%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Unifirst by 474.1% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 155 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Unifirst by 59.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Unifirst by 88.7% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 266 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Unifirst by 252.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 345 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Unifirst by 187.2% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 359 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

About Unifirst

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.