UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.35 Per Share

UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 29th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of 0.35 per share by the textile maker on Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from UniFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33.

UniFirst has raised its dividend payment by an average of 8.0% annually over the last three years. UniFirst has a payout ratio of 17.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect UniFirst to earn $8.30 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.9%.

UniFirst Trading Down 0.5 %

UniFirst stock opened at $184.31 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $188.88 and a 200-day moving average of $175.99. The firm has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.72 and a beta of 0.81. UniFirst has a 1-year low of $149.58 and a 1-year high of $200.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of UniFirst from $199.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UniFirst from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UniFirst currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.25.

UniFirst Company Profile

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.