Home Compare CTAS vs LECO
Stock Comparison · Structural lead, mixed market

Cintas vs Lincoln Electric Holdings: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

The structural profiles are close, with Cintas carrying a narrow edge on stability. Lincoln Electric still leads on growth and valuation, which keeps the comparison from looking entirely one-sided. In the market, Lincoln Electric carries the stronger setup — intact trend against Cintas's broken trend. That leaves a split case: the structural lead stays with Cintas, but the market is not currently confirming it.

The comparison is based on similar long-term financial trajectories, not sector labels. Both peer scores are relative to the Russell 1000 universe, making them directly comparable.

Updated 2026-05-17

The result is anchored in stability, but profitability also reinforces the same direction.

Trajectory Similarity
0.78
Similar
Peer-set rank: #12
within Cintas Corporation's functional peer set

This pair is matched through long-term financial trajectory similarity within the selected peer universe.

This level of similarity signals a strong structural match, even though some dimensions still separate the two companies.

The match is driven mainly by capital structure and margin consistency.

Similarity drivers
capital structuremargin consistency
How to read the score
0.85–1.00 · Very similar0.70–0.84 · Similar0.55–0.69 · Moderately similarbelow 0.55 · Loose match
Peer-Relative Score
CTAS
Cintas Corporation
60
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: Russell 1000
vs
LECO
Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc.
59
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: Russell 1000

Scores reflect position relative to comparable companies with similar long-term financial trajectories.

The largest gaps do not all point in the same direction.

Dimension spread: CTAS vs LECO Profitability 64 52 Stability 79 57 Valuation 51 64 Growth 47 63 CTAS LECO
Gap Ranking
#1 Stability +22
#2 Growth +16
#3 Valuation +13
#4 Profitability +12
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for CTAS and LECO Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer CTASLECO Relative valuation Structural strength

The structural gap is limited here, but current pricing still leans against Cintas Corporation.

Valuation position uses peer-relative PE percentile (idx_pct_pe) where available.

Entry today — historical context

Where CTAS and LECO each sit in their own 5-year price and valuation history.

BASED ON 5-YEAR HISTORY CTAS Neutral · near norm 0th 50th 100th 35 pct gap LECO Elevated · above norm 0th 50th 100th 61st 96th
Today CTAS sits in the upper-middle of its own 5-year history (61st percentile), while LECO sits higher in its own history (96th). Within each stock's own 5-year context, CTAS is at a historically more favourable entry position than LECO. This reflects entry timing, not which company is structurally stronger — peer-relative analysis is a separate question addressed above.

Describes historical entry positioning only. Descriptive — not investment advice.

Relative Position vs Comparable Companies
Stability
Both look solid on stability, though Cintas Corporation still holds the stronger peer position.
Growth
On growth, the edge still sits with Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc., even though both profiles look solid.
Stability — Dominant Gap
CTAS
79
LECO
57
Gap+22in favour of CTAS

The stability gap is clear, with the stronger side looking materially steadier through time.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

There is still a strong counterforce in growth, so the lead stays clear without becoming a sweep.

What this means for the comparison

The lead is built on both stability and growth — though growth still provides a counterweight.

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

Break down the CTAS vs LECO comparison across all dimensions with the full interactive tool.

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Similar stability-and-growth comparisons

Explore how CTAS and LECO each compare against other companies in their peer groups.

Rule-based, descriptive analysis only. Derived from peer percentile dimensions. Not investment advice. Peer groups are determined algorithmically based on structural similarity — not by sector classification alone.

How AssetNext Peer Scores Work

AssetNext scores reflect each company's structural position within its functional peer group — not a ranking against all stocks simultaneously. Peers are identified by similarity across eight financial dimensions, including revenue growth trajectory, margin structure, capital intensity, and earnings stability. A score of 75 means the company ranks in the top quartile within its own peer group, not the entire market.

Four dimension scores drive the overall peer score: Growth (revenue trajectory and expansion dynamics), Quality (margin structure and capital efficiency), Valuation (peer-relative pricing on standard multiples), and Stability (earnings consistency and financial predictability). Each dimension is scored 0–100 relative to the peer group, then combined into an overall peer score using equal weighting.

Because scores are peer-relative, the same company can have slightly different scores in different index universes. On comparison pages, both companies are shown within their shared peer universe wherever possible — so the scores are directly comparable. The peer basis is stated on each score card.

Scores are recalculated periodically as underlying financial data is updated. All analysis is descriptive and rule-based — AssetNext describes structural realities and never issues buy, sell or hold recommendations.