CXW vs UNF vs CTAS Stock Comparison

CoreCivic, Unifirst and Cintas Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CXW CoreCivic, Inc.
$31.07 -5.0% 1M +66.5% 1Y
Market cap
$3.07B
P/E
24.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.48B
Div. yield
–
Facility Services Industrials
5 wins
UNF Unifirst Corp
$256.86 +0.9% 1M +65.1% 1Y
Market cap
$4.66B
P/E
42.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.52B
Div. yield
0.56%
Facility Services Industrials
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
7 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Cintas leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Cintas 7, CoreCivic 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCXWUNFCTASLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.07B $4.66B $87.12B CTAS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.0x 42.5x 42.3x CXW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 1.8x 32.6x 37.3x CXW
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +24.3% +3.7% +9.5% CXW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.1% 4.3% 17.8% CTAS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.6% — 28.2% CTAS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.2x — 0.7x CTAS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.56% 0.86% CTAS
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +66.5% +65.1% +18.6% CXW
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +29.3%/yr +5.4%/yr +15.0%/yr CXW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 42.0% 34.5% 23.7% CTAS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 53/100 44/100 61/100 CTAS

Percentile Scorecard

CXWUNFCTAS

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

AxisCXWUNFCTAS
Valuation 48 #59 of 113 38 #71 of 113 21 #90 of 113
Growth 45 #53 of 96 30 #68 of 96 73 #27 of 96
Profitability 51 #45 of 91 53 #43 of 91 99 #2 of 91
Financial Health 39 #75 of 122 86 #18 of 122 69 #38 of 122
Shareholder Returns 82 #13 of 66 12 #58 of 66 43 #38 of 66
Overall 53 44 61
  • CXW ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • UNF ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • CTAS ranked among 130 companies in Business Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCXWUNFCTASSPY
1 month -5.0%+0.9%+10.3% +0.7%
3 months +4.2%-12.5%+5.5% +3.7%
6 months +51.9%+0.5%+24.8% +7.1%
Year to date +62.6%+33.2%+16.0% +12.8%
1 year +66.5%+65.1%+18.6% +11.9%
3 years +148.6%+57.6%+73.5% +85.2%
3 years, per year +35.5%+16.4%+20.2% +22.8%
5 years +260.9%+29.8%+101.4% +67.6%
5 years, per year +29.3%+5.4%+15.0% +10.9%
10 years +135.7%+110.9%+723.4% +262.0%
10 years, per year +9.0%+7.7%+23.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCXWUNFCTASSPY
Volatility, 1Y 42.0%34.5%23.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 43.8%25.7%23.9% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.370.200.10 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.591.890.78 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -39.7%-34.9%-28.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -12.6%-14.8%-3.5% -1.2%
52-week high $35.53$301.48$225.93 $779.14
52-week low $16.13$150.02$163.55 $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.

MultipleCXWUNFCTAS
P/E now vs peer median 24.0xmedian 21.9x 42.5xmedian 21.9x 42.3xmedian 21.9x
P/S now vs peer median 1.2xmedian 0.9x 1.8xmedian 0.9x 7.5xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.1xmedian 11.9x 16.1xmedian 11.9x 27.8xmedian 11.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 53.6xmedian 14.4x 65.8xmedian 14.4x 42.8xmedian 14.4x
P/B now vs peer median 2.1xmedian 2.4x 2.1xmedian 2.4x 16.7xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 3.39median 0.97 14.73median 0.97 2.79median 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 monthsCXWUNFCTAS
Revenue $2.48B $2.52B $11.56B
Gross profit – $922.95M $5.89B
Operating income – $136.04M $2.70B
Net income $127.90M $109.49M $2.06B
Free cash flow $57.32M $70.77M $2.03B
EPS (diluted) $1.29 $6.02 $5.10
Cash & equivalents $108.93M $192.12M $243.60M
Total debt $5.01B – $2.43B
Shares (diluted) 98.89M 18.20M 404.29M
Enterprise value $2.60B $4.01B $86.21B

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
MetricCXWUNFCTAS
P/E 24.0x 42.5x 42.3x
P/FCF 53.6x 65.8x 42.8x
P/Operating cash flow 15.4x 22.7x 35.8x
P/S 1.2x 1.8x 7.5x
P/B 2.1x 2.1x 16.7x
P/Tangible book 2.1x 2.1x 17.7x
EV/EBITDA 11.1x 16.1x 27.8x
EV/EBIT 17.4x 32.8x 33.1x
EV/Revenue 1.7x 1.8x 7.7x
EV/FCF 75.2x 63.1x 43.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 21.5x 21.8x 36.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.39 14.73 2.79

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCXWUNFCTAS
Revenue growth (1Y) 24.3% 3.7% 9.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.2% 4.2% 8.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 3.7% 11.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 7.1% 11.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) – -26.3% 11.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 0.6% 13.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 22.9% -26.2% 11.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 2.2% 1.8% 14.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 35.1% -24.6% 12.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 7.1% 2.9% 15.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -26.4% -30.9% 14.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 2.6% -1.6% 14.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -66.4% -50.3% 19.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -19.8% 17.4% 17.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCXWUNFCTAS
Gross margin – 36.6% 51.0%
EBITDA margin 15.6% 11.0% 27.8%
Operating margin – 5.4% 23.4%
Pretax margin 7.0% 5.6% 22.5%
Net margin 5.1% 4.3% 17.8%
FCF margin 2.3% 2.8% 17.6%
Operating cash flow margin 8.1% 8.1% 21.1%
Return on equity 9.0% 4.9% 39.8%
Return on assets 3.7% 3.8% 19.5%
Return on invested capital 6.6% – 28.2%
Return on capital employed 8.5% 5.4% 34.2%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.9x 1.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 1.9x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 1.1% 0.5% 1.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCXWUNFCTAS
Debt / assets 39.0% – 22.8%
Debt / equity 0.9x – 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.2x – 0.7x
Debt / FCF 23.5x – 1.2x
Liabilities / assets 58.4% 22.3% 51.1%
Equity / assets 41.6% 77.7% 48.9%
Interest coverage 3.3x – 25.3x
Current ratio 1.3x 3.1x 1.5x
Quick ratio 1.1x 1.6x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.6x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 1.91 6.71 13.42

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCXWUNFCTAS
Dividend yield – 0.6% 0.9%
Net buyback yield 6.2% 0.7% 1.1%
Shareholder yield 6.2% 1.3% 2.0%
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.

ConsensusCXWUNFCTAS
Forward P/E 1.8xFY2026 32.6xFY2027 37.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $16.94FY2026 $7.88FY2027 $5.85FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +1,468.5%FY2026 -2.7%FY2027 +18.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -85.4% +12.3% +10.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.85BFY2026 $2.79BFY2027 $12.98BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +29.1%FY2026 +10.8%FY2027 +15.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -0.2% -9.0% +6.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCXWUNFCTAS
Held by institutions 87.5% 81.3% 67.6%
Institutions holding 278 341 1,432
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.2% -2.5% +6.4%
Institutions buying 155 162 659
Institutions selling 86 121 576
Buyers to sellers 1.80 1.34 1.14

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.

CXWUNFCTAS
CXW 1.00 0.03 0.03
UNF 0.03 1.00 0.57
CTAS 0.03 0.57 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CXW, UNF and CTAS?

Cintas (CTAS) is the largest by market capitalisation: CoreCivic (CXW) $3.07B, Unifirst (UNF) $4.66B, Cintas (CTAS) $87.12B.

Which stock is cheaper, CXW, UNF and CTAS?

CoreCivic (CXW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (CoreCivic (CXW) 24.0x, Unifirst (UNF) 42.5x, Cintas (CTAS) 42.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, CoreCivic (CXW) is cheapest (CoreCivic (CXW) 1.8x, Unifirst (UNF) 32.6x, Cintas (CTAS) 37.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

CoreCivic (CXW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: CoreCivic (CXW) +24.3%, Unifirst (UNF) +3.7%, Cintas (CTAS) +9.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Cintas (CTAS) has the highest net margin (CoreCivic (CXW) 5.1%, Unifirst (UNF) 4.3%, Cintas (CTAS) 17.8%). On return on invested capital, Cintas (CTAS) leads (CoreCivic (CXW) 6.6%, Cintas (CTAS) 28.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year CoreCivic (CXW) returned the most: CoreCivic (CXW) +66.5%, Unifirst (UNF) +65.1%, Cintas (CTAS) +18.6%. Over five years, CoreCivic (CXW) compounded fastest (CoreCivic (CXW) +29.3%/yr, Unifirst (UNF) +5.4%/yr, Cintas (CTAS) +15.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Cintas (CTAS) has the highest dividend yield: CoreCivic (CXW) 0.00%, Unifirst (UNF) 0.56%, Cintas (CTAS) 0.86%. CoreCivic (CXW) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cintas (CTAS) has been the steadiest (CoreCivic (CXW) 42.0%, Unifirst (UNF) 34.5%, Cintas (CTAS) 23.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 7. 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.