Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the fifteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $213.88.

CTAS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic lowered Cintas from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $171.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Cintas from $195.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Cintas in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Argus upgraded Cintas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Cintas from $200.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th.

Insider Activity at Cintas

In related news, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 8,521 shares of Cintas stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.96, for a total transaction of $1,780,548.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,029 shares in the company, valued at $5,647,979.84. This trade represents a 23.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jim Rozakis sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.37, for a total value 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 $48,835,235.36. This represents a 0.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 15.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Cintas by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,859,304 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,781,223,000 after acquiring an additional 491,307 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Cintas during the first quarter worth about $1,877,760,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Cintas by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,468,080 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,544,822,000 after purchasing an additional 219,809 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Cintas by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,118,479 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $935,146,000 after purchasing an additional 296,059 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cintas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $877,216,000. Institutional investors own 63.46% of the company's stock.

Cintas Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CTAS traded up $4.53 during trading on Friday, reaching $218.33. 378,079 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,697,921. Cintas has a 52-week low of $164.93 and a 52-week high of $228.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $203.67 and a 200-day moving average of $204.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.09.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.60 billion. Cintas had a return on equity of 40.62% and a net margin of 17.23%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.84 EPS. Analysts forecast that Cintas will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Cintas's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.