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UniFirst Corporation

UNF
40
Specialty Business Services · Industrials
Price
$291.44
-1.25 (-0.43%)
Market Cap
$5.30B
Winston Score
40
Winston is serious
Mixed quality — meaningful strengths and weaknesses.

Share count falling — buybacks

2.4% over 4y

The company has reduced its share count over this period, returning value to shareholders through buybacks.

Diluted shares outstanding: 19.0M (2021) → 18.6M (2025)

UniFirst Corporation rents and sells uniforms and workwear to businesses across North America. Its customers include factories, restaurants, healthcare facilities, auto shops, and other companies that need workers to wear branded or protective clothing. UniFirst is one of the largest uniform rental companies in the United States, competing mainly against Cintas and Aramark Uniform Services.

The company makes most of its money through weekly rental contracts, where businesses pay a recurring fee to have uniforms cleaned, repaired, and delivered on a regular schedule. UniFirst operates hundreds of laundry and service facilities across the U.S., Canada, and parts of Europe, generating roughly $2.4 billion in annual revenue. Its main competitive advantage is the high switching cost built into long-term service contracts, but the business faces ongoing pressure from larger rival Cintas, which has more scale and consistently higher profit margins.

Winston Score History

Politician Trades

2 trades / 12mo

0 Congressional buys and 2 sells on UNF in the last 12 months.

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Growth Profile

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+3.4% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Slow revenue growth

EPS Growth

-13.9% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Earnings declining

R&D Spend

$0/ year

0.0% of revenue

Below sector average (4%)

Research and development spending

Insider Activity

1.4%ownership

Flat

Insiders holding steady — not selling despite ability to

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

$152M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↑ Burn rate improving

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Growth context

UniFirst Corporation is growing revenue at 3% year-over-year. The Winston Score measures business quality today — these growth metrics show what could matter tomorrow.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

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Quality

Gross Margin
35.2%
Modest — 35.2% gross margin
Operating Margin
4.2%
Thin — 4.2% operating margin
ROCE
1.2%
Weak — 1.2% return on capital

ROIC between 0% and 5%. They earn a few cents back per dollar invested in the business.

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Growth

Sales YoY
-0.2%
Shrinking sales (-0.2% YoY)
EPS YoY
-8.2%
Earnings shrinking (-8.2% YoY)

Slight earnings drop. Typical near a cyclical low.

EPS Consistency
4/8 quarters
Earnings inconsistent quarter-to-quarter

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Cash Flow

Cash Conversion
248%
Turns 248% of profit into real cash
FCF Margin
6.2%
Modest free cash flow (6.2%)

FCF margin between 0% and 10%. Some cash from sales, but not a lot.

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Stability

Debt / Equity
0.01
Conservative — low debt load (0.01)
Interest Cover
100.00x
Comfortably covers interest (100.0x)

Interest coverage above 8. Profits cover interest many times over.

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Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)
41.1x
Pricey — P/E 41.1

P/E over 35. The market is pricing in heavy, sustained growth.

P/E vs Forward
+8.7
GROWING
Earnings expected to grow meaningfully — cheaper on forward P/E (41.1 → 32.4)

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Dividends

Dividend Yield
0.53%
Small dividend — 0.53% yield

Modest yield. The bulk of any return needs to come from price appreciation.

Dividend Growth
+4.7%
Dividend growing modestly (4.7% YoY)

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