Cerity Partners LLC Lowers Position in Cintas Corporation $CTAS

Cerity Partners LLC lessened its stake in Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 178,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17,625 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Cintas were worth $33,480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CTAS. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cintas by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,268 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cintas by 42.3% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in shares of Cintas in the second quarter worth $625,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of Cintas by 20.3% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 212,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,291,000 after buying an additional 35,781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cintas by 50.2% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 92,924 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,710,000 after buying an additional 31,068 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cintas

In other news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.87, for a total value of $834,607.42. Following the sale, the director owned 22,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,015,273.76. This represents a 17.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 14.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cintas in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Cintas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Cintas from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Cintas in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Cintas from $222.00 to $190.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cintas presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.17.

Cintas Price Performance

Cintas stock opened at $180.40 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $72.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.96, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $173.21 and its 200 day moving average is $184.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Cintas Corporation has a 52-week low of $161.16 and a 52-week high of $226.75.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. Cintas had a net margin of 17.57% and a return on equity of 41.47%. Cintas’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cintas Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.85%.

About Cintas

Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ: CTAS) is a provider of business services and products focused on workplace appearance, safety and facility maintenance. The company is best known for its uniform rental and corporate apparel programs, which include rental, leasing and direct-purchase options, laundering and garment repair. Cintas markets its services to a wide range of end-users, including manufacturing, food service, healthcare, hospitality, retail and government customers.

Beyond uniforms, Cintas offers a suite of facility services and products designed to help organizations maintain clean, safe and compliant workplaces.