UniFirst Corporation (UNF)
Industrials · NYQ · US
Fundamentals
Valuation and ratings
UniFirst Corporation trades at USD292.69, which is 59% above the USD120.76 our discounted cash flow model puts on the business. On that measure it screens as expensive, which is not the same as saying it will fall.
Our moat model scores it 39 out of 100, which is little in the way of a moat. A moat is a structural reason competitors cannot take the profits away, and it matters more to a long holding period than any single quarter's numbers do.
It changes hands at 43.5 times earnings. Be careful reading that in isolation: for a cyclical business a low P/E arrives at the top of the cycle, when profits are peaking and about to fall, which is exactly when the shares look cheapest and are not.
About UniFirst Corporation
UniFirst Corporation provides workplace uniforms and protective work wear clothing in the United States, Europe, and Canada. It operates in three segments: Uniform & Facility Service Solutions; First Aid & Safety Solutions; and Other. The company offers uniforms, including shirts, pants, jackets, coveralls, lab coats, smocks, and aprons; specialized protective wear comprising flame resistant and high visibility garments; and first aid cabinet services and other safety supplies, as well as safety training services. It also engages in the rent and sale of non-garment items and services that include industrial wiping products, floor mats, dry and wet mops, and other textile products, as well as the wholesale distribution and pill packaging operations for non-prescription medicines. In addition, the company provides garment service options, including full-service rental and lease programs. Further, it offers restroom and cleaning supplies, such as air fresheners, paper products, gloves, masks, hand soaps, and sanitizers. Additionally, it provides specialized services, including decontamination and cleaning of work clothes and other items that have been exposed to radioactive materials and services special cleanroom protective wear. The company serves automobile service centers and dealers, delivery services, food and general merchandise retailers, manufacturers, maintenance facilities, restaurants and food-related businesses, business service companies, soft and durable goods wholesalers, transportation companies, energy producing operations, and healthcare providers, as well as others that require employee clothing on the job for image, identification, protection, or utility purposes. UniFirst Corporation was founded in 1936 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts.
UNF passes 1 of our 30 screens today
Each screen prints the exact criteria it used, and the circumstances in which it is wrong.
Smart money ownership
10 of the funds we track reported a position in their latest SEC 13F filing. Largest first:
- Israel Englander, MILLENNIUM MANAGEMENT LLC$133.24M · 0.1% of book
- Tweedy Browne, Tweedy, Browne Co LLC$25.58M · 2.0% of book
- Cliff Asness, AQR CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC$9.15M · 0.0% of book
- Third Avenue Management, THIRD AVENUE MANAGEMENT LLC$7.15M · 1.2% of book
- Arrowstreet Capital, ARROWSTREET CAPITAL, LIMITED PARTNERSHIP$3.80M · 0.0% of book
A word of warning on reading these figures: a 13F reports the market value of a holding, so a fund that traded nothing at all still appears to have sold when the price fell. We found 102 companies where the standard reading gives the opposite answer. Only the share count is honest.
Common questions
Is UniFirst Corporation (UNF) undervalued?
Against our discounted cash flow estimate of USD120.76, UNF at USD292.69 is 59% above fair value. That is one model's answer, not a recommendation, and most of a DCF's output sits in a terminal value nobody can forecast.
Which funds own UNF?
10 of the institutions we track reported a position in UNF in their most recent SEC 13F filing. A 13F is filed up to 45 days after quarter end, so it tells you what a fund held then, not what it holds now.
What is UNF's P/E ratio?
UNF trades at 43.5 times earnings. A low P/E is not automatically cheap: on a cyclical company it is usually a warning that earnings are at a peak.
The full research page for UNF, with financial statements, ownership detail, peer comparison and alerts, is free inside the app.
Data from company filings, exchange quotes and SEC EDGAR 13F disclosures. Quotes are delayed. Metrics we do not have are left out rather than estimated. Educational information, not financial advice.