Cintas Stock (CTAS) on December 1, 2025: Price, Q1 2026 Earnings Beat, Dividend Hike and 2026

Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ: CTAS) heads into December 2025 as a classic “quality compounder” that has finally pulled back from record highs. The uniform and facility services specialist just delivered another beat‑and‑raise quarter, announced a fresh $1 billion buyback, and extended a decades‑long dividend growth streak — yet the stock is still trading well below its June peak.

This article looks at where Cintas stock stands today, what the latest earnings and capital‑return moves mean, and how Wall Street currently values CTAS through 2026–2028.

This coverage is based on public information available up to December 1, 2025 and is for informational purposes only, not financial advice.

Where Cintas Stock Trades Today

Cintas shares closed on Monday, December 1, 2025 at about $185.43, with a modest loss on the day and after‑hours trading around $185.21. ^[1] That price:

Implies a market capitalization near $75 billion. ^[2]
Sits roughly 18–19% below the stock’s 52‑week high of $229.24 reached on June 6, 2025. ^[3]
Is only a few percent above the 52‑week low of $180.39, set in early November. ^[4]

Performance has cooled:

Over the last three months, CTAS is down about 10–11%. ^[5]
Over the past year, the stock is lower by roughly 17–18%, even though it’s up about 1.8% year‑to‑date. ^[6]
In the same period, the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) has gained about 16.6% YTD and around 7% over 12 months, meaning Cintas has significantly underperformed its sector in 2025. ^[7]

Technically, Cintas is trading below both its 50‑day and 200‑day moving averages, reinforcing a corrective or consolidation phase after years of strong gains. ^[8]

On valuation, sources such as TickerNerd and MarketBeat put Cintas around 41–42× trailing earnings, a premium multiple even for a high‑quality industrial services name. ^[9]

Q1 FY 2026: Another Beat‑and‑Raise Quarter

Cintas operates on a May 31 fiscal year. On September 24, 2025, the company reported results for Q1 FY 2026 (quarter ended August 31, 2025), delivering another “beat and raise” that underpins the long‑term bull case. ^[10]

Key Q1 FY 2026 highlights:

Revenue:
- $2.72 billion, up 8.7% year over year from $2.50 billion. ^[11]
- Organic revenue growth (excluding FX and acquisitions): 7.8%. ^[12]
Profitability:
- Gross margin: 50.3% vs. 50.1% a year ago – a 20‑basis‑point improvement. ^[13]
- Operating income: $617.9 million, up 10.1%, with operating margin expanding to 22.7% from 22.4%. ^[14]
- Net income: $491.1 million, up 8.7%. ^[15]
EPS:
- Diluted EPS of $1.20, up 9.1% from $1.10 and a penny above Wall Street’s $1.19 consensus. ^[16]

Momentum was broad‑based across the route‑based segments, led by First Aid and Safety Services (+14.1% organic growth) and solid gains in fire protection (about +10.3%) and uniform rental & facility services (+7.3%), partially offset by weaker direct uniform sales (down roughly 9%). ^[17]

Guidance Raised for FY 2026

On the back of this performance, management raised full‑year FY 2026 guidance: ^[18]

Revenue:
- From $11.00–$11.15 billion to $11.06–$11.18 billion (about 7–8.1% growth).
Diluted EPS:
- From $4.71–$4.85 to $4.74–$4.86 (around 7.7–10.5% EPS growth).

Commentary from the Q1 call and post‑earnings analyses highlighted:

Steady demand across customer verticals, despite a softer macro backdrop. ^[19]
Margin expansion driven by route optimization, cost controls, and operating leverage. ^[20]
Ongoing investments in technology and safety services, which management views as key to long‑term growth. ^[21]

Interestingly, even with the beat and raised guidance, the stock sold off after the release, reflecting how much good news was already priced into CTAS at much higher levels earlier in 2025. ^[22]

Dividend Hike, Buyback and Capital Return Story

Cintas is not only a growth compounder; it is also a Dividend Aristocrat. The company has raised its dividend every year since its IPO in 1983, giving it one of the longer dividend‑increase streaks in the S&P 500. ^[23]

15.4% Dividend Increase

On July 29, 2025, Cintas announced a 15.4% increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.45 per share, payable on September 15, 2025 to shareholders of record on August 15. ^[24]

Later, on October 28, 2025, the board approved another quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, payable December 15, 2025 to shareholders of record on November 14. ^[25]

At current prices, that dividend equates to an annualized payout of $1.80 per share and a yield around 1.0%, modest in absolute terms but underpinned by strong and consistent growth. ^[26]

Analysts and commentators often highlight Cintas as a dividend growth story rather than a high‑yield play, with sources like The Motley Fool noting that its dividend growth has averaged double‑digit percentages over the last decade. ^[27]

New $1.0 Billion Buyback Authorization

Alongside the October dividend declaration, Cintas unveiled a new $1.0 billion share‑repurchase program, in addition to an existing authorization with $0.7 billion remaining. That leaves the company authorized to buy up to $1.7 billion of stock at management’s discretion. ^[28]

MarketBeat estimates the $1.0 billion authorization alone represents about 1.3% of shares outstanding, signaling management’s confidence in the business even after a long run‑up in the share price. ^[29]

In Q1 FY 2026, Cintas already repurchased roughly $347 million of stock and paid around $182 million in dividends, demonstrating its commitment to balancing reinvestment with cash returns. ^[30]

What Wall Street Expects for CTAS in 2026

Analyst views on Cintas are constructive but not unanimous, reflecting a tension between excellent fundamentals and a still‑rich valuation.

12‑Month Price Targets

Different data providers paint a consistent picture of mid‑teens upside from current levels:

StockAnalysis:
- 12 analysts, consensus “Buy”,
- Average price target: $220.25 (about +18.8% from $185.43), with a range of $176–$257. ^[31]
TickerNerd (broader coverage of 25 analysts):
- 7 Buy, 12 Hold, 2 Sell,
- Median target: $220, with high at $255 and low at $172,
- Characterizes the overall stance as “neutral”, implying about 18.3% upside from a reference price of $186.02. ^[32]
Barchart:
- Notes a “Moderate Buy” consensus from 21 analysts,
- With a mean price target around $218.18, implying about 17% upside from current levels. ^[33]
MarketBeat:
- Finds a more cautious “Hold” consensus, with 1 Strong Buy, 5 Buy, 7 Hold, 3 Sell ratings,
- Consensus target price: $212.71, still implying single‑ to mid‑teens upside from $185. ^[34]

Taken together, the Street broadly expects high‑single to low‑double‑digit total returns over the next year, led primarily by earnings growth rather than multiple expansion.

Recent Target Changes and Mixed Sentiment

Recent moves show that enthusiasm has cooled somewhat as the share price has come down and rates have stayed higher for longer:

Wells Fargo’s Jason Haas recently cut CTAS’s target from $218 to $185, maintaining an Equal‑Weight/Hold rating. ^[35]
RBC Capital reduced its target from $240 to $206 while maintaining Sector Perform. ^[36]
Citigroup nudged its target up from $172 to $176 but kept a Sell/Strong Sell stance. ^[37]
Bernstein initiated at Market Perform with a $200 target, essentially neutral. ^[38]

On the more bullish side:

UBS maintains a Buy rating and one of the highest targets, at $255 per share. ^[39]

Macro research firm Finimize recently summed it up as “cautious optimism”: strong fundamentals and raised guidance, but substantial multiple risk if growth slows. ^[40]

Looking Out to 2028: Longer‑Term CTAS Forecasts

Beyond the next 12 months, several sources model where Cintas could trade by 2028, assuming it continues to execute but does not dramatically accelerate growth.

TIKR’s 2028 Scenario

A recent TIKR analysis (updated December 1, 2025) built a guided valuation model for CTAS based on consensus estimates: ^[41]

Revenue projected to grow around 7.3% annually through 2028.
Operating margin expected to expand toward ~23.8%.
Stock currently trading near 37× forward earnings.
Under those assumptions, the model estimates a 2028 share price around $242,
- implying roughly 30% total upside from today, or about 11% annualized return.

Crucially, that forecast assumes:

Cintas maintains its premium multiple in the mid‑30s.
Revenue and margins evolve roughly in line with current analyst expectations.

If the business grows slightly faster — or if Cintas successfully shifts more mix into higher‑margin categories like safety and fire protection — upside could be higher. Conversely, if growth slows or the market re‑rates the stock towards a lower multiple, returns could fall short of those projections.

Sell‑Side Forecasts for Revenue and EPS

StockAnalysis aggregates Wall Street estimates and shows an expectation of steady high‑single‑digit top‑line and double‑digit EPS growth through at least FY 2027: ^[42]

Revenue:
- From $10.34B in FY 2025 to about $11.38B in FY 2026 (~10% growth),
- Then to $12.19B in FY 2027 (~7.1% growth).
EPS:
- From $4.40 (FY 2025) to $4.94 (FY 2026) (~12.3% growth),
- Then to $5.47 (FY 2027) (~10.7% growth).

These trajectories are consistent with TIKR’s longer‑term valuation work and with management’s own FY 2026 guidance ranges. ^[43]

Fundamental Quality: How Screens and “Gurus” View Cintas

Quantitative and “guru‑style” screens also tend to rate Cintas favorably, though not perfectly.

A Validea/Nasdaq report applying the Martin Zweig “Growth Investor” strategy gives CTAS a 69% score, noting positives in P/E, sales growth, current‑quarter earnings momentum, long‑term EPS growth, low debt and insider activity, while flagging weaker points in revenue‑vs‑EPS growth alignment and the pace of acceleration. ^[44]
Zacks and others have repeatedly highlighted Cintas as one of the “boring” non‑tech names that have quietly delivered strong double‑digit annualized returns over the last decade, thanks to its recurring revenue, high retention and niche dominance in uniforms and facility services. ^[45]

The recurring nature of Cintas’s contracts — uniforms, restroom services, safety supplies, fire protection and first aid — has historically made its cash flows more resilient than many cyclicals, even through macro slowdowns. ^[46]

Risks and Bear‑Case Arguments

Despite its quality profile, Cintas is not without risks, and several recent notes have emphasized why some analysts now rate CTAS a Hold or Sell even after the pullback.

1. Valuation Risk

At around 37–42× earnings, CTAS still trades at a substantial premium to most industrial and business services peers. ^[47]

Bearish or cautious analysts argue:

The multiple already prices in near‑flawless execution, with revenue growing high‑single digits and EPS growing double‑digits. ^[48]
Any macro slowdown, margin pressure, or competitive pricing could trigger further de‑rating, even if earnings hold up reasonably well. ^[49]

2. Macro and Customer‑Spending Slowdown

Cintas’s customers are primarily businesses and institutions; a prolonged slowdown in hiring, small‑business formation, or capital spending could eventually weigh on new contracts and upsells, even if recurring services remain sticky. ^[50]

Management has emphasized that its model lets it grow faster than GDP and job growth by converting “do‑it‑yourself” customers onto rental programs and bundling more services, but that does not fully insulate the business from a deep downturn. ^[51]

3. Competition and Pricing

Analysts note increasing competition in facility and safety services:

Peers are competing aggressively on price to win contracts. ^[52]
If Cintas has to sacrifice pricing power to defend share, margin expansion could stall — undermining part of the bull thesis. ^[53]

4. Execution Risk on Capital Allocation

While dividend hikes and buybacks are shareholder‑friendly, they also raise a question:

If growth slows, continuing to pay out a high proportion of cash by dividends and buybacks might limit flexibility for acquisitions or larger strategic investments. ^[54]

So far, Cintas has walked this line well, but skeptics highlight this as another reason the multiple may be too rich.

Bottom Line: A High‑Quality Compounder at a Less‑Extreme Price

As of December 1, 2025, Cintas stock sits at an interesting crossroads:

Business fundamentals remain strong: high‑single‑digit organic revenue growth, expanding margins, and a recurring‑revenue model that has proven durable across cycles. ^[55]
The company has raised FY 2026 guidance, hiked its dividend by 15.4%, and authorized a fresh $1 billion buyback, all while maintaining a long streak of annual dividend increases. ^[56]
After a near‑20% drawdown from its 52‑week high, CTAS now trades at levels where Wall Street, on average, sees mid‑teens total upside over the next year and low‑double‑digit annualized returns out to 2028, assuming execution stays on track and the valuation multiple holds. ^[57]

The bull case:

Cintas continues to grow revenue high‑single digits with expanding margins.
Its recurring, mission‑critical services keep churn low and pricing power intact.
Dividend growth and buybacks steadily lift per‑share value over time.

The bear case:

The stock’s premium valuation leaves little room for error; multiple compression could offset years of solid fundamental growth.
A more pronounced macro slowdown or rising competition could challenge the narrative of “boring but unstoppable” compounding.

For long‑term‑oriented investors who prioritize business quality and dividend growth, Cintas remains a standout in the specialty business services space. For valuation‑sensitive or shorter‑term traders, however, CTAS is still a name where timing and entry point matter, even after the 2025 pullback.

Again, this article is not a recommendation to buy or sell CTAS, but an overview of the latest news, forecasts and analyses as of December 1, 2025. Anyone considering an investment should review Cintas’s filings, earnings calls, and their own risk tolerance before making decisions.