William Blair Comments on UniFirst's Q3 Earnings (NYSE:UNF)

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF - Free Report) - Stock analysts at William Blair reduced their Q3 2025 earnings estimates for shares of UniFirst in a research note issued on Wednesday, January 8th. William Blair analyst T. Mulrooney now expects that the textile maker will earn $1.99 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $2.08. The consensus estimate for UniFirst's current full-year earnings is $7.68 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for UniFirst's Q4 2025 earnings at $1.92 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.55 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $2.26 EPS.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on UNF. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of UniFirst from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UniFirst presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $197.50.

UniFirst Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of UNF traded up $5.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $220.15. The company had a trading volume of 393,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 393,733. The stock has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33 and a beta of 0.87. UniFirst has a 1-year low of $149.58 and a 1-year high of $243.70. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $190.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.71.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.09. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 5.99%. The business had revenue of $604.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Trading of UniFirst

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of UniFirst by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 367 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of UniFirst by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,936 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 60.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in UniFirst by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 4,231 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in UniFirst by 0.6% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 21,491 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $3,686,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at UniFirst

In other UniFirst news, VP David Martin Katz sold 587 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.08, for a total value of $113,337.96. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,086,075. This represents a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.04, for a total transaction of $619,079.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,357,105.84. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,294 shares of company stock valued at $2,546,632. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.35 dividend. This is an increase from UniFirst's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. UniFirst's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.90%.

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.