Key Stats for UNF Stock
- Price Change for UNF stock: +13.7%
- $UNF Share Price as of March 05: $263
- 52-Week High: $271
- $UNF Stock Price Target: $232
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What Happened?
UniFirst (UNF) stock surged 13.7% as takeover speculation came back to the center of the story. Bloomberg reported on February 10 that UniFirst was in active discussions to be acquired by Cintas after Cintas renewed its $275 per share offer. Then Bloomberg reported on March 5 that Cintas was in advanced talks to buy UniFirst, and that pushed the stock close to its 52-week high.
That headline matters because Cintas is the clear leader in the uniform rental space. Reuters reported in December that Cintas offered $275 per share in cash, valuing UniFirst at about $5.2 billion. Reuters also said the bid represented a 53% premium to UniFirst’s December 12 close, which helps explain why merger news has driven the stock more than earnings lately.
UniFirst rents and services uniforms, mats, mops, and safety products for workplaces. That creates recurring revenue because customers need those items cleaned, replaced, and delivered every week. In fiscal Q1 2026, revenue rose 2.7% to $621.3 million, driven by organic growth in Uniform & Facility Service Solutions and double-digit growth in First Aid & Safety Solutions.
Profit, however, moved the other way in the quarter. Net income fell 20.3% to $34.4 million, and diluted EPS fell to $1.89 from $2.31. CEO Steven Sintros said the quarter matched expectations and reflected “planned investments designed to accelerate growth and improve operational efficiency and profitability over time.”
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What the Market Is Telling Us About UNF Stock
Right now, the market looks more focused on deal odds than on UniFirst’s standalone earnings path. That makes sense because Wall Street’s mean target is $232, while the stock traded at $259.17 on March 6. In other words, the stock is already above the average analyst target, so investors appear to be pricing in takeover optionality.
UniFirst’s fundamentals still give the company support. LTM revenue of $2.45 billion, gross margin of 36.5%, and EBIT margin of 7.3%. The balance sheet also looks clean, with -$52.6 million of net debt, which means UniFirst holds more cash than debt on a net basis.
The company also keeps returning cash to shareholders. LTM free cash flow of $93.9 million, a dividend yield of 0.6%, and a payout ratio of 17.8%. UniFirst declared a quarterly dividend of $0.365 per share in January, payable on March 27 to holders of record on March 6.
Against competitors, UniFirst does not look cheap on earnings, but it still trades well below Cintas on sales and EBITDA multiples. UniFirst at 1.85x NTM EV/revenue and 13.74x NTM EV/EBITDA, versus Cintas at 7.28x and 26.07x. That gap reflects Cintas’s stronger scale and margins, but it also shows why Cintas could see strategic value in buying UniFirst.
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Should You Invest in UniFirst Corporation?
The only way to really know is to look at the numbers yourself. TIKR gives you free access to the same institutional-quality financial data that professional analysts use to answer exactly that question.
Pull up UNF, and you’ll see years of historical financials, what Wall Street analysts expect for revenue and earnings in the quarters ahead, how valuation multiples have moved over time, and whether price targets are trending up or down.
You can build a free watchlist to track UNF alongside every other stock on your radar. No credit card required. Just the data you need to decide for yourself.
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Disclaimer:
Please note that the articles on TIKR are not intended to serve as investment or financial advice from TIKR or our content team, nor are they recommendations to buy or sell any stocks. We create our content based on TIKR Terminal’s investment data and analysts’ estimates. Our analysis might not include recent company news or important updates. TIKR has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading, and happy investing!
