CTAS vs NSSC vs UNF Stock Comparison

Cintas, Napco Security Technologies and Unifirst Prices as of Nov 3, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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CTAS Cintas Corp
$223.74 +15.9% 1M +22.9% 1Y
Market cap
$91.84B
P/E
44.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$11.56B
Div. yield
0.01%
Facility Services Industrials
4 wins
UNF Unifirst Corp
$256.28 +1.8% 1M +64.5% 1Y
Market cap
$4.58B
P/E
41.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.52B
Div. yield
–
Facility Services Industrials
1 win

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Cintas leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Cintas 4, Napco Security Technologies 4, Unifirst 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCTASNSSCUNFLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $91.84B $1.13B $4.58B CTAS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 44.6x 25.9x 41.8x NSSC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 38.2x 19.7x 32.5x NSSC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.5% +8.7% +3.7% CTAS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 17.8% 21.6% 4.3% NSSC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 28.2% — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.7x — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +22.9% -22.1% +64.5% UNF
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +15.2%/yr +6.5%/yr +4.8%/yr CTAS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 23.8% 45.3% 34.5% CTAS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 62/100 63/100 45/100 NSSC

Percentile Scorecard

CTASNSSCUNF

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

AxisCTASNSSCUNF
Valuation 19 #93 of 114 38 #71 of 114 39 #70 of 114
Growth 79 #21 of 98 60 #40 of 98 32 #67 of 98
Profitability 99 #2 of 95 98 #3 of 95 54 #44 of 95
Financial Health 69 #40 of 126 97 #5 of 126 86 #18 of 126
Shareholder Returns 46 #38 of 70 22 #55 of 70 13 #61 of 70
Overall 62 63 45
  • CTAS ranked among 131 companies in Business Services
  • NSSC ranked among 131 companies in Business Services
  • UNF ranked among 131 companies in Business Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCTASNSSCUNFSPY
1 month +15.9%-12.2%+1.8% -2.0%
3 months +9.9%-21.0%-12.0% -2.2%
6 months +32.2%-24.0%+1.6% +4.2%
Year to date +19.0%-23.8%+32.9% +10.6%
1 year +22.9%-22.1%+64.5% +10.4%
3 years +72.6%+69.0%+51.3% +73.6%
3 years, per year +20.0%+19.1%+14.8% +20.2%
5 years +103.1%+37.2%+26.6% +61.6%
5 years, per year +15.2%+6.5%+4.8% +10.1%
10 years +769.0%+801.3%+108.4% +261.3%
10 years, per year +24.1%+24.6%+7.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCTASNSSCUNFSPY
Volatility, 1Y 23.8%45.3%34.5% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.0%51.3%25.5% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.091.280.20 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.96-0.491.87 0.81
Max drawdown, 5Y -28.2%-65.8%-34.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -1.0%-32.7%-15.0% -3.2%
52-week high $225.93$47.23$301.48 $779.14
52-week low $163.55$31.77$150.02 $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.

MultipleCTASNSSCUNF
P/E now vs peer median 43.4xmedian 20.8x 25.9xmedian 20.8x 42.4xmedian 20.8x
P/S now vs peer median 7.7xmedian 0.9x 5.6xmedian 0.9x 1.8xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 28.5xmedian 11.9x 20.7xmedian 11.9x 16.0xmedian 11.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 44.0xmedian 15.0x 22.7xmedian 15.0x 65.7xmedian 15.0x
P/B now vs peer median 17.2xmedian 2.4x 5.7xmedian 2.4x 2.1xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 2.86median 1.08 2.72median 1.08 14.70median 1.08

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 monthsCTASNSSCUNF
Revenue $11.56B $203.13M $2.52B
Gross profit $5.89B $121.30M $922.95M
Operating income $2.70B $46.11M $136.04M
Net income $2.06B $43.87M $109.49M
Free cash flow $2.03B $50.10M $70.77M
R&D – $14.60M –
EPS (diluted) $5.10 $1.22 $6.02
Cash & equivalents $243.60M $123.88M $192.12M
Total debt $2.43B – –
Shares (diluted) 404.29M 35.88M 18.20M
Enterprise value $90.93B $621.69M $3.93B

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
MetricCTASNSSCUNF
P/E 43.4x 25.9x 42.4x
P/FCF 44.0x 22.7x 65.7x
P/Operating cash flow 36.7x 21.7x 22.6x
P/S 7.7x 5.6x 1.8x
P/B 17.2x 5.7x 2.1x
P/Tangible book 18.2x 5.8x 2.1x
EV/EBITDA 28.5x 20.7x 16.0x
EV/EBIT 33.9x 21.7x 32.8x
EV/Revenue 7.9x 4.9x 1.8x
EV/FCF 45.0x 20.0x 63.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 37.6x 19.2x 21.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.86 2.72 14.70

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCTASNSSCUNF
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.5% 8.7% 3.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.7% 5.7% 4.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.5% 16.3% 3.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.2% 14.4% 7.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.8% -4.0% -26.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 13.2% 6.4% 0.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 11.3% -1.2% -26.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 14.3% 8.3% 1.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 12.7% -1.2% -24.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 15.2% 9.5% 2.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 14.8% -1.7% -30.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.4% 11.3% -1.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 19.5% -2.7% -50.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 17.4% 12.7% 17.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCTASNSSCUNF
Gross margin 51.0% 59.7% 36.6%
EBITDA margin 27.8% 23.8% 11.0%
Operating margin 23.4% 22.7% 5.4%
Pretax margin 22.5% 24.9% 5.6%
Net margin 17.8% 21.6% 4.3%
FCF margin 17.6% 24.7% 2.8%
Operating cash flow margin 21.1% 25.7% 8.1%
Return on equity 39.8% 22.5% 4.9%
Return on assets 19.5% 18.7% 3.8%
Return on invested capital 28.2% – –
Return on capital employed 34.2% 22.3% 5.4%
Asset turnover 1.1x 0.9x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 1.2x 1.9x
Stock comp / revenue 1.1% 0.5% 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCTASNSSCUNF
Debt / assets 22.8% – –
Debt / equity 0.5x – –
Net debt / EBITDA 0.7x – –
Debt / FCF 1.2x – –
Liabilities / assets 51.1% 14.4% 22.3%
Equity / assets 48.9% 85.6% 77.7%
Interest coverage 25.3x – –
Current ratio 1.5x 7.2x 3.1x
Quick ratio 0.7x 5.8x 1.6x
Cash ratio 0.1x 4.8x 0.6x
Altman Z-score 13.67 24.31 6.70

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCTASNSSCUNF
Dividend yield 0.8% 1.9% 0.6%
Net buyback yield 1.1% -0.1% 0.7%
Shareholder yield 2.0% 1.9% 1.3%
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.

ConsensusCTASNSSCUNF
Forward P/E 38.2xFY2026 19.7xFY2027 32.5xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $5.85FY2026 $1.61FY2027 $7.88FY2027
EPS growth, next FY +18.4%FY2026 +0.6%FY2027 -2.7%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +10.4% +19.3% +12.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $12.98BFY2026 $208.17MFY2027 $2.79BFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +15.3%FY2026 +2.9%FY2027 +10.8%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after +6.8% +9.1% -9.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCTASNSSCUNF
Held by institutions 67.6% 100.0% 81.3%
Institutions holding 1,433 261 342
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.4% +4.2% -2.5%
Institutions buying 660 138 162
Institutions selling 576 89 121
Buyers to sellers 1.15 1.55 1.34

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.

CTASNSSCUNF
CTAS 1.00 0.08 0.58
NSSC 0.08 1.00 0.00
UNF 0.58 0.00 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CTAS, NSSC and UNF?

Cintas (CTAS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cintas (CTAS) $91.84B, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) $1.13B, Unifirst (UNF) $4.58B.

Which stock is cheaper, CTAS, NSSC and UNF?

Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cintas (CTAS) 44.6x, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 25.9x, Unifirst (UNF) 41.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) is cheapest (Cintas (CTAS) 38.2x, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 19.7x, Unifirst (UNF) 32.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Cintas (CTAS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Cintas (CTAS) +9.5%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) +8.7%, Unifirst (UNF) +3.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) has the highest net margin (Cintas (CTAS) 17.8%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 21.6%, Unifirst (UNF) 4.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Unifirst (UNF) returned the most: Cintas (CTAS) +22.9%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) -22.1%, Unifirst (UNF) +64.5%. Over five years, Cintas (CTAS) compounded fastest (Cintas (CTAS) +15.2%/yr, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) +6.5%/yr, Unifirst (UNF) +4.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Cintas (CTAS) 0.01%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 0.00%, Unifirst (UNF) 0.00%. Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) and Unifirst (UNF) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cintas (CTAS) has been the steadiest (Cintas (CTAS) 23.8%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 45.3%, Unifirst (UNF) 34.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Cintas (CTAS) leads on 4. 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.