Is UniFirst stock a buy or sell ahead of its fiscal first-quarter 2022 results?

On Monday, UniFirst Corp (NYSE:UNF) shares edged slightly higher ahead of its upcoming quarterly report. The company is expected to release its most recent quarter revenue and earnings on Wednesday.

Analysts expect the workplace uniform manufacturer’s earnings per share to decline marginally by 2.3% from the same quarter a year ago to about $2.15, with revenue rising by 6.4% to over $475 million.

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UniFirst shares gained more than 10% in December after falling by nearly 17% in the preceding 3-month period. As a result, the stock swung to a net 12-month gain of just about 0.20%.

Is it too risky to buy UniFirst shares?

From an investment perspective, UniFirst shares trade at reasonable trailing 12-month and forward P/E ratios of 26.63 and 26.12, respectively. Therefore, the stock could still be an interesting option for value investors.

In addition, analysts expect UniFirst’s bottom line to improve by 11.30% this year, before growing at an average annual rate of 10% over the next five years. For reference, the company’s EPS averaged annual growth of 5.20% in the previous five.

Therefore, the stock could also be an attractive option for long-term investors.

Technically, UniFirst shares seem to have recently surged to find resistance from the 100-day moving average.

However, with the stock continuing to trade within the ascending channel formation, investors could target extended gains at about $217.99, or higher at $223.36, while $205.95 and $199.44 are support levels.

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