Uniforms to You, a division of
Cintas Corporation
(
CTAS
), has opened a new retail location at Elston Avenue. The new 8,500
square feet location offers more than 20,000 products and can be
reached easily due to its proximity to both Kennedy Expressway and
Clybourn Metra station.
The assortment of products that are now showcased in the new store
range from Cintas apparel for health care, security, foodservice,
construction along with professional occupations. Apart from home
brands, it also offers other branded apparel including Koi,
IguanaMed, Dansko, Cherokee, Barco, Carhartt, Rocky, Wolverine,
Boston Leather, Liberty, S&W, Elbeco and Van Heusen, in
addition to other accessories.
Over and above the array of apparels and accessories, the new
retail store at Chicago offers onsite services to satisfy
customers' demands for embroidery, custom patching and engraved
name tags among others. These services are available on all the
days.
Apart from this new store, Cintas has another retail store, Working
Class, which is located in Oaklawn, Illinois.
The company's earnings improved 41.5% year over year to 58 cents
per share in third-quarter fiscal 2012, surpassing the Zacks
Consensus Estimate of 52 cents. Total revenues increased 7.9% year
over year to $1.012 billion, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate
of $1.008 billion.
Cintas continues with margin expansion through cost efficiencies
despite headwinds from higher energy and material costs. During the
quarter, gross margin increased 30 basis-points (bps) to 42.1% and
the operating margin inflated 200 bps to 13.6%, marking the fifth
consecutive quarter of operating margin growth. Cintas has scope
for further margin expansion given the unutilized capacity in
facilities that it can leverage.
Moreover, the company has a healthy balance sheet to finance future
acquisitions. Its cash deployment strategy also supports
acquisition.
However, low recycled paper prices still pose a problem for the
company. The recycled paper prices during the quarter
remained as low as $150 per ton The company's Document Management
segment may face headwinds if paper prices remain low.
Cintas competes with companies like
G&K Services Inc.
(
GKSR
). It currently retains a short-term Zacks #3 Rank (Hold). We have
a long-term Neutral recommendation on Cintas.
CINTAS CORP (CTAS): Free Stock Analysis Report
G&K SVCS A (GKSR): Free Stock Analysis
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