Unifirst (UNF) Competitors

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF) and McGrath RentCorp (NASDAQ:MGRC) are both mid-cap diversified support services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, profitability, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, UNF or MGRC?

McGrath RentCorp has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Unifirst. McGrath RentCorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Unifirst, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Unifirst	$2.43B	1.33	$145.47M	$8.14	21.41
McGrath RentCorp	$910.94M	3.13	$231.73M	$9.65	12.02

Which has more volatility and risk, UNF or MGRC?

Unifirst has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, McGrath RentCorp has a beta of 0.66, suggesting that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is UNF or MGRC more profitable?

McGrath RentCorp has a net margin of 25.81% compared to Unifirst's net margin of 6.18%. McGrath RentCorp's return on equity of 13.57% beat Unifirst's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Unifirst	6.18%	7.35%	5.78%
McGrath RentCorp	25.81%	13.57%	6.41%

Do analysts rate UNF or MGRC?

Unifirst presently has a consensus price target of $179.50, suggesting a potential upside of 3.00%. McGrath RentCorp has a consensus price target of $145.50, suggesting a potential upside of 25.47%. Given McGrath RentCorp's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe McGrath RentCorp is more favorable than Unifirst.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Unifirst	2 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.50
McGrath RentCorp	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the media favor UNF or MGRC?

In the previous week, McGrath RentCorp had 9 more articles in the media than Unifirst. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for McGrath RentCorp and 5 mentions for Unifirst. McGrath RentCorp's average media sentiment score of 1.32 beat Unifirst's score of 1.03 indicating that McGrath RentCorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Unifirst	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
McGrath RentCorp	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders & institutionals believe in UNF or MGRC?

78.2% of Unifirst shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.1% of McGrath RentCorp shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Unifirst shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of McGrath RentCorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is UNF or MGRC a better dividend stock?

Unifirst pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. McGrath RentCorp pays an annual dividend of $1.94 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Unifirst pays out 17.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. McGrath RentCorp pays out 20.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Unifirst has raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years and McGrath RentCorp has raised its dividend for 33 consecutive years. McGrath RentCorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

McGrath RentCorp beats Unifirst on 15 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.