UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Releases FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

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

UniFirst Trading Up 12.5 %

NYSE:UNF traded up $19.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $173.78. 44,189 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 85,813. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.16. UniFirst has a fifty-two week low of $149.58 and a fifty-two week high of $187.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.44 and a beta of 0.85.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $590.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.56 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.19% and a net margin of 4.92%. As a group, analysts expect that UniFirst will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UniFirst from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of UniFirst from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of UniFirst from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $177.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Cecelia Levenstein sold 11,000 shares of UniFirst stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.73, for a total transaction of $1,746,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 87,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,898,081.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 26,233 shares of company stock worth $4,094,682 over the last three months. 0.74% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.