UniFirst Guides FY20 Below Analysts' Expectations - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - While reporting financial results for the fourth quarter on Wednesday, UniFirst Corp. (UNF) initiated earnings and revenue guidance for the full-year 2020, below analysts' expectations.

For fiscal 2020, the company now projects earnings in a range of $7.47 and $7.92 per share on revenues between $1.860 billion and $1.880 billion.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $8.88 per share on revenues of $1.80 billion for the year. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

"As we look toward fiscal 2020, our guidance reflects our continued investments in our people, processes and technology, which will help us achieve our primary objective of being recognized as the top service provider in our industry," said Steven Sintros, UniFirst President and Chief Executive Officer.

UniFirst also announced that it will be raising its quarterly dividend to $0.25 per share for Common Stock and to $0.20 per share for Class B Common Stock, up from $0.1125 and $0.09 per share, respectively. This decision was reviewed and approved as part of the Board of Directors' ongoing evaluation of UniFirst's capital allocation strategy.