UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Updates FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 7.170-7.490 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of UniFirst from $186.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $185.00 to $199.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised shares of UniFirst from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on UniFirst from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $186.00.

UniFirst Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of UNF opened at $171.50 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $160.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.25. UniFirst has a twelve month low of $149.58 and a twelve month high of $187.22. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 0.85.

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

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael A. Croatti sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total value of $304,200.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,747 shares in the company, valued at $971,243. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Michael A. Croatti sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total value of $304,200.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,747 shares in the company, valued at $971,243. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Cecelia Levenstein sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.76, for a total transaction of $856,680.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 68,058 shares in the company, valued at $10,600,714.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,033 shares of company stock worth $4,398,882. 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.