CTAS vs KSCP vs NSSC Stock Comparison

Cintas, Knightscope and Napco Security Technologies Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CTAS Cintas Corp
$218.07 +10.3% 1M +18.6% 1Y
Market cap
$87.12B
P/E
42.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$11.56B
Div. yield
0.86%
Facility Services Industrials
4 wins
KSCP Knightscope, Inc.
$0.51 -37.0% 1M -90.5% 1Y
Market cap
$12.05M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$20.71M
Div. yield
–
Security Services Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Napco Security Technologies leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Napco Security Technologies 5, Cintas 4, Knightscope 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCTASKSCPNSSCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $87.12B $12.05M $1.43B CTAS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 42.3x -0.2x 33.2x NSSC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 37.3x — 24.8x NSSC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.5% +88.0% +11.4% KSCP
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 17.8% -217.3% 21.3% NSSC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 28.2% — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.7x 0.1x — KSCP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.86% — 1.53% NSSC
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +18.6% -90.5% -8.6% CTAS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +15.0%/yr — +10.8%/yr CTAS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 23.7% 109.1% 40.9% CTAS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 61/100 30/100 64/100 NSSC

Percentile Scorecard

CTASKSCPNSSC

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCTASKSCPNSSC
Valuation 21 #90 of 113 21 #89 of 113 30 #80 of 113
Growth 73 #27 of 96 38 #60 of 96 80 #20 of 96
Profitability 99 #2 of 91 2 #89 of 91 100 #1 of 91
Financial Health 69 #38 of 122 60 #49 of 122 96 #6 of 122
Shareholder Returns 43 #38 of 66 – 15 #56 of 66
Overall 61 30 64
  • CTAS ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • KSCP ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • NSSC ranked among 130 companies in Business Services

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCTASKSCPNSSCSPY
1 month +10.3%-37.0%+12.4% +0.7%
3 months +5.5%-74.4%+9.9% +3.7%
6 months +24.8%-83.8%-14.5% +7.1%
Year to date +16.0%-86.3%-4.1% +12.8%
1 year +18.6%-90.5%-8.6% +11.9%
3 years +73.5%-98.5%+117.3% +85.2%
3 years, per year +20.2%-75.5%+29.5% +22.8%
5 years +101.4%—+66.7% +67.6%
5 years, per year +15.0%—+10.8% +10.9%
10 years +723.4%—+1,042.3% +262.0%
10 years, per year +23.5%—+27.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCTASKSCPNSSCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 23.7%109.1%40.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 23.9%103.4%43.6% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.102.691.21 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.78-0.83-0.21 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -28.2%-100.0%-65.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -3.5%-90.8%-15.4% -1.2%
52-week high $225.93$5.53$47.23 $779.14
52-week low $163.55$0.50$34.96 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCTASKSCPNSSC
P/E now vs peer median 42.3xmedian 21.9x -0.2xmedian 21.9x 33.2xmedian 21.9x
P/S now vs peer median 7.5xmedian 0.9x 0.6xmedian 0.9x 7.1xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 27.8xmedian 11.9x -0.2xmedian 11.9x 27.0xmedian 11.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 42.8xmedian 14.4x -0.3xmedian 14.4x 24.1xmedian 14.4x
P/B now vs peer median 16.7xmedian 2.4x 0.4xmedian 2.4x 7.5xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 2.79median 0.97 0.00median 0.97 1.86median 0.97

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCTASKSCPNSSC
Revenue $11.56B $20.71M $202.32M
Gross profit $5.89B -$2.06M $119.79M
Operating income $2.70B -$44.22M $45.64M
Net income $2.06B -$45.00M $43.03M
Free cash flow $2.03B -$42.45M $59.23M
R&D – $18.98M $13.79M
EPS (diluted) $5.10 $-2.51 $1.20
Cash & equivalents $243.60M $8.20M $126.93M
Total debt $2.43B $4.39M –
Shares (diluted) 404.29M 17.93M 35.89M
Enterprise value $86.21B -$48.56M $946.37M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCTASKSCPNSSC
P/E 42.3x -0.2x 33.2x
P/FCF 42.8x -0.3x 24.1x
P/Operating cash flow 35.8x -0.3x 23.4x
P/S 7.5x 0.6x 7.1x
P/B 16.7x 0.4x 7.5x
P/Tangible book 17.7x 0.9x 7.6x
EV/EBITDA 27.8x -0.2x 27.0x
EV/EBIT 33.1x -0.2x 28.3x
EV/Revenue 7.7x 0.4x 6.4x
EV/FCF 43.9x -0.2x 21.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 36.7x -0.2x 21.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.79 0.00 1.86

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCTASKSCPNSSC
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.5% 88.0% 11.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.7% 27.0% 6.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.5% 38.7% 18.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.2% 3.4% 17.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.8% -59.4% -1.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 13.2% -15.1% 14.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 11.3% -44.7% -0.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 14.3% -23.0% 16.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 12.7% 43.5% 0.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 15.2% 50.8% 17.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 14.8% -91.8% 14.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.4% -24.3% 35.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 19.5% -95.5% 15.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 17.4% -24.2% 39.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCTASKSCPNSSC
Gross margin 51.0% -9.9% 59.2%
EBITDA margin 27.8% -197.3% 23.6%
Operating margin 23.4% -213.5% 22.6%
Pretax margin 22.5% -217.3% 24.6%
Net margin 17.8% -217.3% 21.3%
FCF margin 17.6% -205.0% 29.3%
Operating cash flow margin 21.1% -200.8% 30.2%
Return on equity 39.8% -141.5% 23.3%
Return on assets 19.5% -77.9% 18.7%
Return on invested capital 28.2% – –
Return on capital employed 34.2% -103.5% 24.3%
Asset turnover 1.1x 0.4x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 0.9x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 1.1% 6.5% 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCTASKSCPNSSC
Debt / assets 22.8% 7.9% –
Debt / equity 0.5x 0.1x –
Net debt / EBITDA 0.7x 0.1x –
Debt / FCF 1.2x -0.1x –
Liabilities / assets 51.1% 47.1% 20.0%
Equity / assets 48.9% 52.9% 80.0%
Interest coverage 25.3x – –
Current ratio 1.5x 1.2x 4.9x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.8x 4.1x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.5x 3.2x
Altman Z-score 13.42 -8.21 21.61

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCTASKSCPNSSC
Dividend yield 0.9% – 1.5%
Net buyback yield 1.1% – 0.0%
Shareholder yield 2.0% – 1.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) 35.2% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 35.6% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 14.8% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 15.5% – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCTASKSCPNSSC
Forward P/E 37.3xFY2026 – 24.8xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $5.85FY2026 $-2.65FY2026 $1.61FY2027
EPS growth, next FY +18.4%FY2026 – +0.6%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +10.4% – +19.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $12.98BFY2026 $34.99MFY2026 $208.17MFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +15.3%FY2026 +209.6%FY2026 +2.9%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after +6.8% +18.0% +9.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCTASKSCPNSSC
Held by institutions 67.6% 6.3% 100.0%
Institutions holding 1,432 62 260
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.4% +6.1% +4.2%
Institutions buying 659 29 137
Institutions selling 576 6 89
Buyers to sellers 1.14 4.83 1.54

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CTASKSCPNSSC
CTAS 1.00 -0.15 0.15
KSCP -0.15 1.00 0.05
NSSC 0.15 0.05 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CTAS, KSCP and NSSC?

Cintas (CTAS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cintas (CTAS) $87.12B, Knightscope (KSCP) $12.05M, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) $1.43B.

Which stock is cheaper, CTAS, KSCP and NSSC?

Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cintas (CTAS) 42.3x, Knightscope (KSCP) -0.2x, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 33.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) is cheapest (Cintas (CTAS) 37.3x, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 24.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Knightscope (KSCP) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Cintas (CTAS) +9.5%, Knightscope (KSCP) +88.0%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) +11.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) has the highest net margin (Cintas (CTAS) 17.8%, Knightscope (KSCP) -217.3%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 21.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Cintas (CTAS) returned the most: Cintas (CTAS) +18.6%, Knightscope (KSCP) -90.5%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) -8.6%. Over five years, Cintas (CTAS) compounded fastest (Cintas (CTAS) +15.0%/yr, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) +10.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) has the highest dividend yield: Cintas (CTAS) 0.86%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 1.53%. Knightscope (KSCP) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cintas (CTAS) has been the steadiest (Cintas (CTAS) 23.7%, Knightscope (KSCP) 109.1%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 40.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CTAS, KSCP and NSSC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.