William Blair Issues Positive Estimate for UniFirst Earnings

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) – Equities researchers at William Blair upped their FY2025 earnings estimates for UniFirst in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, April 2nd. William Blair analyst T. Mulrooney now anticipates that the textile maker will post earnings of $7.94 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $7.63. The consensus estimate for UniFirst’s current full-year earnings is $7.71 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for UniFirst’s FY2025 earnings at $7.94 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.54 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.54 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.70 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.70 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.24 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.24 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.44 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.44 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $8.92 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $8.92 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on UniFirst from $218.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of UniFirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $152.00 price objective (down previously from $180.00) on shares of UniFirst in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $180.00.

UniFirst Trading Down 5.1 %

Shares of UNF opened at $163.40 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $204.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $198.18. The company has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.89 and a beta of 0.88. UniFirst has a twelve month low of $149.58 and a twelve month high of $243.70.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 2nd. The textile maker reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $602.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $602.81 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 6.00%. UniFirst’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of UniFirst

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Independence Bank of Kentucky bought a new position in shares of UniFirst during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in UniFirst by 1,105.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 229 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in UniFirst by 252.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 345 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of UniFirst by 187.2% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 359 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of UniFirst by 811.5% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 474 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total transaction of $274,024.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,361,682.25. The trade was a 16.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 17.41%.

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.