UniFirst (UNF) Competitors

McGrath RentCorp (NASDAQ:MGRC) and UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, media sentiment, dividends, community ranking, risk, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Which has more volatility and risk, MGRC or UNF?

McGrath RentCorp has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, UniFirst has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend MGRC or UNF?

McGrath RentCorp currently has a consensus price target of $124.00, suggesting a potential upside of 5.11%. UniFirst has a consensus price target of $186.25, suggesting a potential downside of 2.81%. Given McGrath RentCorp's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe McGrath RentCorp is more favorable than UniFirst.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
McGrath RentCorp	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
UniFirst	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.75

Does the media favor MGRC or UNF?

In the previous week, McGrath RentCorp and McGrath RentCorp both had 3 articles in the media. UniFirst's average media sentiment score of 1.34 beat McGrath RentCorp's score of 1.07 indicating that UniFirst is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
McGrath RentCorp	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
UniFirst	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, MGRC or UNF?

McGrath RentCorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than UniFirst. McGrath RentCorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than UniFirst, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
McGrath RentCorp	$831.84M	3.48	$174.62M	$9.15	12.89
UniFirst	$2.43B	1.47	$145.47M	$7.77	24.66

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in MGRC or UNF?

92.1% of McGrath RentCorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.2% of UniFirst shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of McGrath RentCorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of UniFirst shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is MGRC or UNF more profitable?

McGrath RentCorp has a net margin of 25.29% compared to UniFirst's net margin of 5.99%. McGrath RentCorp's return on equity of 13.64% beat UniFirst's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
McGrath RentCorp	25.29%	13.64%	5.89%
UniFirst	5.99%	7.47%	5.85%

Is MGRC or UNF a better dividend stock?

McGrath RentCorp pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. UniFirst pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. McGrath RentCorp pays out 20.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. UniFirst pays out 18.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. McGrath RentCorp has increased its dividend for 32 consecutive years. McGrath RentCorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer MGRC or UNF?

McGrath RentCorp received 19 more outperform votes than UniFirst when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 57.89% of users gave McGrath RentCorp an outperform vote while only 52.82% of users gave UniFirst an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
McGrath RentCorp	Outperform Votes 253 57.89%	Underperform Votes 184 42.11%
UniFirst	Outperform Votes 234 52.82%	Underperform Votes 209 47.18%

Summary

McGrath RentCorp beats UniFirst on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.