UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Updates FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 7.170-7.490 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 7.450. The company issued revenue guidance of $2.4 billion-$2.4 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $2.4 billion. UniFirst also updated its FY24 guidance to $7.17-7.49 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of UniFirst from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of UniFirst from $185.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of UniFirst from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $181.25.

UniFirst Trading Up 14.0 %

Shares of UNF opened at $176.04 on Thursday. UniFirst has a 12-month low of $149.58 and a 12-month high of $187.22. The firm has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.81 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $160.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.22.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The textile maker reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.19). UniFirst had a net margin of 4.92% and a return on equity of 6.19%. The business had revenue of $590.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.56 million. Equities research analysts forecast that UniFirst will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Cecelia Levenstein sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.76, for a total transaction of $856,680.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 68,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,600,714.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other UniFirst news, VP Michael A. Croatti sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total transaction of $304,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $971,243. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Cecelia Levenstein sold 5,500 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.76, for a total value of $856,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 68,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,600,714.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,033 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,882 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.74% 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.