Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) Stock Position Increased by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 100,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,551 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Cintas were worth $18,410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CTAS. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Cintas by 340.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,089,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $224,312,000 after buying an additional 841,952 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Cintas by 137.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,222,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $457,574,000 after buying an additional 1,286,668 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Cintas by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cintas in the 4th quarter worth $319,000. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Cintas by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CTAS. Bank of America began coverage on Cintas in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Cintas from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Cintas from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Redburn Atlantic cut Cintas from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $171.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Cintas in a report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $161.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cintas presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $213.88.

Insider Activity at Cintas

In related news, COO Jim Rozakis sold 2,000 shares of Cintas stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.37, for a total transaction of $380,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 256,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,835,235.36. This trade represents 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 8,521 shares of Cintas stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.96, for a total value of $1,780,548.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,647,979.84. The trade was a 23.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 15.00% of the company’s stock.

Cintas Stock Performance

Shares of CTAS stock opened at $218.49 on Friday. Cintas Co. has a 1-year low of $164.93 and a 1-year high of $228.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $88.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $204.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $204.65.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.08. Cintas had a return on equity of 40.62% and a net margin of 17.23%. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.84 earnings per share. Cintas’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cintas Co. will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Cintas’s payout ratio is 36.11%.

Cintas Company 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.