UniFirst (UNF) closed at $200.19 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.5% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.05% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.19%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.36%.
Heading into today, shares of the uniform provider had gained 7.16% over the past month, outpacing the Industrial Products sector's loss of 4.47% and the S&P 500's loss of 1.58% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from UNF as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.96, down 4.85% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $477.89 million, up 10.1% from the year-ago period.
UNF's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $8.58 per share and revenue of $1.81 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +15.17% and +6.56%, respectively.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for UNF. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. UNF is holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) right now.
In terms of valuation, UNF is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 23.69. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 23.69, which means UNF is trading at a no noticeable deviation to the group.
The Uniform and Related industry is part of the Industrial Products sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 9, which puts it in the top 4% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
Unifirst Corporation (UNF): Free Stock Analysis Report
Original post
Zacks Investment Research