William Blair Issues Negative Estimate for UniFirst Earnings

by · The Markets Daily

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF – Free Report) – William Blair cut their Q3 2025 EPS estimates for shares of UniFirst in a report released on Wednesday, January 8th. William Blair analyst T. Mulrooney now anticipates that the textile maker will post earnings per share of $1.99 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast 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.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The textile maker reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $604.91 million during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.26 EPS.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on UNF. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on UniFirst from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report 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 equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $197.50.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on UNF

UniFirst Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNF opened at $215.15 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.71. UniFirst has a fifty-two week low of $149.58 and a fifty-two week high of $243.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.69 and a beta of 0.87.

UniFirst Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a boost from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.90%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder The Ronald D. Croatti Trust – 1 sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 17,390 shares in the company, valued at $3,320,968.30. This represents a 35.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Steven S. Sintros sold 3,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.04, for a total transaction of $619,079.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 22,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,357,105.84. This trade represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,294 shares of company stock worth $2,546,632 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UniFirst

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of UniFirst by 1.9% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 4,231 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in UniFirst during the second quarter worth about $348,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in UniFirst by 25.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 173,315 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $29,729,000 after purchasing an additional 35,604 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in UniFirst by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 144,090 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $24,716,000 after purchasing an additional 21,547 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of UniFirst by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 737,003 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $126,418,000 after purchasing an additional 23,069 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

UniFirst Company Profile

(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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