Stock price when the opinion was issued
CTAS operates as a corporate uniform service provider, and is now trading at 35x times' Forward P/E. In the last five years, sales grew around 6% on average. The balance sheet is strong, with net debt of $2.5B. Net debt/EBITDA is currently at 1.1x. Based on consensus estimates, sales are expected to grow by 6%-8% on average over the next few years. The company has been consistently raising dividends and repurchasing shares over the last few years, which we like. Overall, a solid company with the recurring business model and shareholder-friendly policies, however, trading at 35x Forward P/E while growth is only around 7% does not seem to us as a screaming buy, but we would be comfortable averaging into the position over time, being more aggressive if valuation dips.
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They announced a 4-for-1 stock split early this month. They reported a strong quarter last March, but got a tough downgrade last week that he disagreed with. The sell-off that followed is a blip and shares will recover.