Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Has $1.03 Million Holdings in Cintas Corporation $CTAS

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 40.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,738 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Cintas were worth $1,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Cintas by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 413,665 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $84,909,000 after acquiring an additional 10,249 shares in the last quarter. Prana Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Cintas in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $14,312,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cintas by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,948,620 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,994,594,000 after acquiring an additional 564,487 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Cintas in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $15,736,000. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in Cintas by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 150,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,955,000 after acquiring an additional 3,397 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.87, for a total transaction of $834,607.42. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,448 shares in the company, valued at $4,015,273.76. This represents a 17.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 14.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cintas Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of CTAS opened at $173.06 on Friday. Cintas Corporation has a 1 year low of $161.16 and a 1 year high of $229.24. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.93. The stock has a market cap of $69.24 billion, a PE ratio of 48.89, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.96.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. Cintas had a return on equity of 41.47% and a net margin of 17.57%.The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Cintas’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cintas Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 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.