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. The company also rents and sells industrial wiping products, floor mats, facility service products, and dry and wet mops; restroom and cleaning supplies comprising air fresheners, paper products, gloves, masks, sanitizers, and hand soaps; and other textile products. In addition, it provides first aid cabinet services and other safety supplies; decontaminates and cleans work clothes, and other items that is exposed to radioactive materials; and services special cleanroom protective wear and facilities. Further, it offers a range of garment service options, including full-service rental programs in which garments are cleaned and serviced; lease programs in which garments are cleaned and maintained by individual employees; and purchase programs to buy garments and related items directly. The company serves automobile service centers and dealers, delivery services, food and general merchandise retailers, food processors and service operations, light manufacturers, maintenance facilities, restaurants, service companies, soft and durable goods wholesalers, transportation companies, healthcare providers, government agencies, research and development laboratories, high technology companies, and utilities operating nuclear reactors, as well as others who require employee clothing for image, identification, protection, or utility purposes. UniFirst Corporation was founded in 1936 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on UNF shares. StockNews.com cut shares of UniFirst from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 21st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $213.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 18th.
UniFirst Stock Up 0.1 %
Shares of NYSE:UNF opened at $193.65 on Friday. UniFirst has a 52 week low of $154.72 and a 52 week high of $232.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.88 and a beta of 0.93.
UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 29th. The textile maker reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.16). UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 5.74%. The business had revenue of $511.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $500.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.21 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that UniFirst will post 6.76 earnings per share for the current year.
UniFirst Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 7th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 6th. UniFirst's payout ratio is currently 20.37%.
Insider Activity
In other UniFirst news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,265 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.00, for a total value of $246,675.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $724,035. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.