Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Raises Stock Holdings in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 66.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 22,048 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,827 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Cintas were worth $4,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CTAS. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cintas by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,468,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,544,822,000 after buying an additional 219,809 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Cintas by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,118,479 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $935,146,000 after acquiring an additional 296,059 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cintas in the fourth quarter worth about $877,216,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Cintas by 264.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,279,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $693,503,000 after acquiring an additional 2,379,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Cintas by 137.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,222,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $457,574,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286,668 shares during the period. 63.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cintas Trading Up 2.7 %

CTAS opened at $205.84 on Wednesday. Cintas Co. has a 52 week low of $162.16 and a 52 week high of $228.12. The company has a market capitalization of $83.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.63, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $201.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.08. Cintas had a return on equity of 40.62% and a net margin of 17.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.84 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Cintas Co. will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Cintas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.11%.

Insider Activity at Cintas

In other Cintas news, COO Jim Rozakis sold 2,000 shares of Cintas stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.37, for a total value of $380,740.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 256,528 shares in the company, valued at $48,835,235.36. The trade was a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 8,521 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.96, for a total transaction of $1,780,548.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,647,979.84. This represents a 23.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 15.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Cintas from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Argus raised shares of Cintas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Cintas in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Cintas in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Cintas from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cintas presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $213.62.

Cintas Profile

Cintas Corporation engages in the provision of corporate identity uniforms and related business services primarily in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Uniform Rental and Facility Services, First Aid and Safety Services, and All Other segments. The company rents and services uniforms and other garments, including flame resistant clothing, mats, mops and shop towels, and other ancillary items; and provides restroom cleaning services and supplies, as well as sells uniforms.