UniFirst (NYSE:UNF – Get Free Report) and Perma-Fix Environmental Services (NASDAQ:PESI – Get Free Report) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
78.2% of UniFirst shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 25.5% of Perma-Fix Environmental Services shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of UniFirst shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.4% of Perma-Fix Environmental Services shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares UniFirst and Perma-Fix Environmental Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| UniFirst | 4.34% | 6.65% | 5.19% |
| Perma-Fix Environmental Services | -37.04% | -35.46% | -20.22% |
Volatility and Risk
UniFirst has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Perma-Fix Environmental Services has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for UniFirst and Perma-Fix Environmental Services, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| UniFirst | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2.50 |
| Perma-Fix Environmental Services | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.50 |
UniFirst currently has a consensus price target of $246.67, indicating a potential downside of 3.36%. Given UniFirst’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe UniFirst is more favorable than Perma-Fix Environmental Services.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares UniFirst and Perma-Fix Environmental Services”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| UniFirst | $2.52 billion | 1.83 | $109.49 million | $6.01 | 42.47 |
| Perma-Fix Environmental Services | $57.18 million | 4.77 | -$13.78 million | ($1.13) | -11.37 |
UniFirst has higher revenue and earnings than Perma-Fix Environmental Services. Perma-Fix Environmental Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than UniFirst, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
UniFirst beats Perma-Fix Environmental Services on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About Perma-Fix Environmental Services
Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an environmental and technology know-how company in the United States. The company through Treatment and Services segments. The Treatment segment offers nuclear, low-level radioactive, mixed waste, hazardous and non-hazardous waste treatment, and processing and disposal services through treatment and storage facilities. This segment is also involved in the research and development activities to identify, develop, and implement waste processing techniques for problematic waste streams. The Services segment provides technical services, including professional radiological measurement and site survey of government and commercial installations; health physics services; integrated occupational safety and health services; and consulting, engineering, project and waste management, environmental, decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) field, technical and management personnel and services; and waste management services. This segment also offers nuclear services, including D&D of government and commercial facilities, including engineering, technology applications, specialty services, logistics, transportation, processing, and disposal; and license termination support, such as project management, planning, characterization, waste stream identification and delineation, remediation/demolition, compliance demonstration, final status survey, reporting, transportation, disposal and emergency response. In addition, it maintains, services, maintains, calibrates, and sources health physics, IH and customized nuclear, environmental, and occupational safety and health instruments. The company provides its services to research institutions, commercial companies, public utilities, and governmental agencies through direct sales to customers or through intermediaries. Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
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