UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Issues FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 7.170-7.490 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS 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 Price Performance

Shares of UNF traded up $19.31 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $173.78. 44,105 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 85,768. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $159.87 and a 200-day moving average of $167.16. UniFirst has a one year low of $149.58 and a one year high of $187.22. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.28 and a beta of 0.85.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.56 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 6.19% and a net margin of 4.92%. Sell-side analysts forecast that UniFirst will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on UNF shares. StockNews.com raised UniFirst from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. UBS Group increased their price objective on UniFirst from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on UniFirst from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $177.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UniFirst news, major shareholder Cecelia Levenstein sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.76, for a total value of $856,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 68,058 shares in the company, valued at $10,600,714.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,233 shares of company stock worth $4,094,682. 0.74% of the stock is 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.