UniFirst Stock Falls As FY22 Earnings Outlook Lags Street View

UniFirst Corp UNF reported fourth-quarter FY21 sales growth of 8.6% year-on-year, to $465.28 million, beating the analyst consensus of $455.11 million.
Revenues from Core laundry operations increased 7.9% Y/Y, and specialty garments rose 22.5%.
Selling and administrative expenses rose 16% Y/Y.
The operating margin was 9.6%, and operating income for the quarter rose 10.1% to $44.9 million.
EPS of $1.82 missed the analyst consensus of $1.84.
UniFirst held $512.9 million in cash and equivalents as of August 28, 2021. Cash provided by operating activities for the fiscal year totaled $212.3 million.
UniFirst announced a 20% hike in the quarterly dividend and approved a $100 million share buyback program, including the available amount under January 2019 program.
The quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share on the common stock and $0.24 per share on Class B common stock are payable on January 4, 2022, to shareholders of record on December 7, 2021.
Outlook: UniFirst sees FY22 revenues of $1.920 billion - $1.945 billion versus the consensus of $1.87 billion.
The company expects FY22 EPS of $5.70 - $6.10 versus the consensus of $8.03.
Price action: UNF shares are trading lower by 6.70% at $201.27 on the last check Wednesday.

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