Barclays Cuts Unifirst (NYSE:UNF) Price Target to $145.00

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF) had its price target cut by Barclays from $152.00 to $145.00 in a research note released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the textile maker’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on UNF. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Unifirst in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Unifirst in a report on Monday, July 14th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $175.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on Unifirst from $194.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $197.00 price target on Unifirst in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $174.75.

Unifirst Stock Performance

NYSE UNF opened at $161.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22 and a beta of 0.86. Unifirst has a fifty-two week low of $154.00 and a fifty-two week high of $243.70. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.20.

Unifirst (NYSE:UNF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.13. Unifirst had a return on equity of 7.11% and a net margin of 6.10%.The firm had revenue of $614.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $607.02 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Unifirst has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.580-6.980 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Unifirst will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Unifirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Unifirst’s payout ratio is presently 17.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unifirst

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Unifirst in the third quarter worth approximately $777,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in Unifirst by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,014 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Unifirst by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,204 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al raised its stake in shares of Unifirst by 6.5% in the third quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 4,900 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $819,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Unifirst by 79.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,858 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,314,000 after purchasing an additional 3,477 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

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.