UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) & Rollins (NYSE:ROL) Financial Survey

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) and UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Rollins and UniFirst, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rollins	2	12	4	1	2.21
UniFirst	0	4	0	0	2.00

Rollins presently has a consensus price target of $44.00, indicating a potential upside of 31.58%. UniFirst has a consensus price target of $246.67, indicating a potential downside of 6.42%. Given Rollins’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Rollins is more favorable than UniFirst.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

51.8% of Rollins shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.2% of UniFirst shares are held by institutional investors. 5.8% of Rollins shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of UniFirst shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Rollins and UniFirst”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Rollins	$3.76 billion	4.28	$526.71 million	$1.10	30.40
UniFirst	$2.43 billion	1.96	$148.27 million	$6.34	41.57

Rollins has higher revenue and earnings than UniFirst. Rollins is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than UniFirst, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Rollins pays an annual dividend of $0.73 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. UniFirst pays an annual dividend of $1.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Rollins pays out 66.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. UniFirst pays out 23.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Rollins has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and UniFirst has raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years.

Volatility and Risk

Rollins has a beta of 0.73, meaning that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, UniFirst has a beta of 0.6, meaning that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Rollins and UniFirst’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rollins	13.55%	38.81%	17.24%
UniFirst	4.65%	6.44%	5.03%

Summary

Rollins beats UniFirst on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Rollins

Rollins, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides pest and wildlife control services to residential and commercial customers in the United States and internationally. The company offers pest control services to residential properties protecting from common pests, including rodents, insects, and wildlife. It also provides workplace pest control solutions for customers across various end markets, such as healthcare, foodservice, and logistics. In addition, the company offers termite protection services and ancillary services. It serves clients directly, as well as through franchisee operations. The company was formerly known as Rollins Broadcasting, Inc and changed its name to Rollins, Inc. in 1965. Rollins, Inc. was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

About UniFirst

UniFirst Corporation provides workplace uniforms and protective work wear clothing in the United States, Europe, and Canada. The company operates through U.S. and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, Manufacturing, Specialty Garments Rental and Cleaning, and First Aid segments. It designs, manufactures, personalizes, rents, cleans, delivers, and sells a range of uniforms and protective clothing, including shirts, pants, jackets, coveralls, lab coats, smocks, and aprons; and specialized protective wear, such as flame resistant and high visibility garments. The company also rents and sells industrial wiping products, floor mats, facility service products, and dry and wet mops; restroom and cleaning supplies comprising air fresheners, paper products, gloves, masks, sanitizers, and hand soaps; and other textile products. In addition, it provides first aid cabinet services and other safety supplies; decontaminates and cleans work clothes, and other items that is exposed to radioactive materials; and services special cleanroom protective wear and facilities. Further, it offers a range of garment service options, including full-service rental programs in which garments are cleaned and serviced; lease programs in which garments are cleaned and maintained by individual employees; and purchase programs to buy garments and related items directly. The company serves automobile service centers and dealers, delivery services, food and general merchandise retailers, food processors and service operations, light manufacturers, maintenance facilities, restaurants, service companies, soft and durable goods wholesalers, transportation companies, healthcare providers, government agencies, research and development laboratories, high technology companies, and utilities operating nuclear reactors, as well as others who require employee clothing for image, identification, protection, or utility purposes. UniFirst Corporation was founded in 1936 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts.