UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Updates FY24 Earnings Guidance

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided EPS guidance of $7.17-7.49 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $7.47. The company issued revenue guidance of $2.415-2.425 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $2.42 billion. UniFirst also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 7.170-7.490 EPS.

UniFirst Price Performance

Shares of UNF stock opened at $171.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 0.85. UniFirst has a 1 year low of $149.58 and a 1 year high of $187.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $160.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.20.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The textile maker reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.19). UniFirst had a net margin of 5.44% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company had revenue of $590.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.56 million. Equities research analysts expect that UniFirst will post 7.44 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 19.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised UniFirst from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of UniFirst from $186.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of UniFirst from $185.00 to $199.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $186.00.

Insider Activity at UniFirst

In other UniFirst news, VP Michael A. Croatti sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total transaction of $304,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,747 shares in the company, valued at $971,243. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other UniFirst news, VP Michael A. Croatti sold 1,800 shares of the business’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $971,243. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Cecelia Levenstein sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.73, for a total value of $1,746,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 87,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,898,081.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 28,033 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,882. 0.74% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.