Cintas Corporation $CTAS Shares Bought by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 18.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 118,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,107 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Cintas were worth $22,249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Cintas in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cintas during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in Cintas during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in Cintas during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Washington Trust Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Cintas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cintas

In related news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of Cintas stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.87, for a total transaction of $834,607.42. Following the sale, the director owned 22,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,015,273.76. The trade was a 17.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 14.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Cintas from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note 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 objective for the company. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cintas in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Argus upgraded shares of Cintas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Cintas from $181.00 to $160.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.17.

Cintas Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CTAS opened at $171.36 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.41, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.45. Cintas Corporation has a twelve month low of $161.16 and a twelve month high of $229.24.

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

Cintas Announces Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Cintas’s payout ratio is 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.