EULAV Asset Management Sells 136,000 Shares of Cintas Corporation $CTAS

EULAV Asset Management trimmed its stake in Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 27.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 365,635 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 136,000 shares during the quarter. Cintas accounts for about 1.8% of EULAV Asset Management’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. EULAV Asset Management’s holdings in Cintas were worth $68,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Cintas by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,948,620 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,994,594,000 after purchasing an additional 564,487 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Cintas by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,293,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,746,453,000 after purchasing an additional 97,220 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cintas in the fourth quarter worth $923,672,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Cintas by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,729,394 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $517,466,000 after purchasing an additional 158,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Cintas by 0.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,559,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $524,460,000 after purchasing an additional 12,841 shares in the last quarter. 63.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cintas in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Cintas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Cintas in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Cintas from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Cintas from $222.00 to $190.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. One 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $215.17.

Cintas Trading Down 0.1%

CTAS opened at $179.85 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $172.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.98. The firm has a market cap of $71.96 billion, a PE ratio of 50.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.94. 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, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.24. The company 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 revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cintas Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Cintas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given 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 dividend yield of 1.0%. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.85%.

Insider Activity at Cintas

In other news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 4,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 22,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,015,273.76. This trade represents a 17.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 14.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.