UniFirst Co. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.35 (NYSE:UNF)

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNFGet Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 14th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of 0.35 per share by the textile maker on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%.

UniFirst has increased its dividend by an average of 8.5% per year over the last three years. UniFirst has a payout ratio of 16.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect UniFirst to earn $8.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.2%.

UniFirst Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE UNF opened at $225.07 on Wednesday. UniFirst has a 12 month low of $149.58 and a 12 month high of $243.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a PE ratio of 28.97 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $192.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.84.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNFGet Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $604.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $606.60 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 5.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that UniFirst will post 7.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at UniFirst

In related news, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.04, for a total value of $619,079.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,571 shares in the company, valued at $4,357,105.84. This trade represents a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.97, for a total transaction of $1,814,215.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 17,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,320,968.30. The trade was a 35.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,294 shares of company stock valued at $2,546,632. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $197.50.

View Our Latest Research Report on UniFirst

About UniFirst

(Get Free Report)

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.

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Dividend History for UniFirst (NYSE:UNF)

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