UniFirst Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.35 (NYSE:UNF)

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 14th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.35 per share by the textile maker on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%.

UniFirst has increased its dividend by an average of 8.5% annually over the last three years. UniFirst has a dividend payout ratio of 16.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect UniFirst to earn $8.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.2%.

UniFirst Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNF traded down $1.46 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $225.07. 129,232 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 331,439. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.97 and a beta of 0.87. UniFirst has a 52-week low of $149.58 and a 52-week high of $243.70. The company has a 50-day moving average of $192.52 and a 200-day moving average of $187.84.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $604.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. UniFirst had a net margin of 5.99% and a return on equity of 7.47%. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. Analysts expect that UniFirst will post 7.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at UniFirst

In other news, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.04, for a total transaction of $619,079.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,357,105.84. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total value of $1,814,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,320,968.30. The trade was a 35.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 13,294 shares of company stock valued at $2,546,632. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com cut UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UniFirst currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $197.50.

UniFirst Company Profile

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.